Government funded renewable energy innovation in China

With the rapid development of the economy, China is facing pressures caused by traditional energy deficiency and environmental pollution in recent years, which has forced the Chinese government to start to pay attention to the development and utilization of renewable energy (RE). This article, based on data and statistics available up to 2008, studies features of Chinaʹs RE technology innovation and problems thereof. It finds that national science and technology programs are the main aspect of Chinaʹs RE technology innovation, and most of R&D funds for the RE technology come from Chinaʹs three main national programs. Besides, the overall expenditures on RE technology innovation constitute only a small proportion of Chinaʹs total domestic R&D funding and seem not enough. This paper also finds that, compared with research and development stages of RE technology, the demonstration and diffusion of RE technology in China are given less attention and thus are relatively less sufficient. Furthermore, influenced by Chinaʹs traditional scientific research system, there appears lack of sufficient incentives and opportunities for private sectors to fully participate in RE technology innovation because most national programs are undertaken by universities or research institutes.