The 5 waves of indigenous innovation in China

Based on the theory of National Innovation System (NIS), the development history of China´s indigenous innovation is separated into five stages from 1949 to 2011. In-depth analysis is taken to explore the international and political environment, innovation resources and participants of innovation activities. And then several basic elements for indigenous innovation are extracted. These basic factors include emancipating the mind, meeting local market need and cooperating between industries, universities, and research institutes. Emancipating the mind is the prerequisite of indigenous innovation; meeting the domestic market needs are the start points of indigenous innovation; and the synergy between different actors of NIS is the major driven force. And above all, the cultivation of indigenous innovation capability is an incremental process.