Abstract

As the backbone of national economic development, manufacturing plays a key role for the rising of China. To cope with the challenges, Chinese government initiated the campaign of “Made in China 2025”, trying to transform and upgrade Chinese Manufacturing from a giant with low value added and low cost based to a higher value added and globally competitive innovation-driven player. The background and challenges with global comparison are addressed, and the key guidepost are identified.

On the demands, the new National Innovation System calls for re-definition to include more elements and players besides the traditional Triple-Helix model of university–industry–government relations, to establish a new ecosystem to incorporate with the networked data economy. The policy implications are discussed, based on the consistency of top-down and bottom-up thinking.