Guest editorial
| Published date | 02 October 2017 |
| Date | 02 October 2017 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JCEFTS-08-2017-0025 |
| Pages | 190-193 |
| Author | K.C. Fung,Xiaolan Fu |
| Subject Matter | Economics,International economics |
Guest editorial
Innovation and the digital economy of China and the Silicon Valley
Introduction
This special issue focuses on an important, timely and exciting theme: “Innovation and the
Digital Economy of China and the Silicon Valley”. The specialissue consists of five papers,
and together they make a valuable contributionto the rapidly growing field. The authors of
these papers are all seasonedresearchers, and they all succeeded in substantially extending
the existing literature.We will provide a critical summary of these interesting papers next.
The first paper “Silicon Valley, France and China: A Comparative Study of Innovation
Systems and Policies”is by Nathalie Aminian and K.C. Fung. In this paper, the authors
study various important features of the innovation system and policy in France and China.
As a benchmark for comparison, the paperalso highlights some innovation-related features
of Silicon Valley and California. The paper firstexamines innovation in France. The French
innovation system and policiesare found to be under significant changes, transitioning from
a centralized state involvement to a more decentralized framework. The authors argue that
despite the efforts by the French Government to decentralizeand to localize, the innovation
system in France is still primarily driven by various government ministries. Nonetheless,
there are interesting new policies and new actors,including the creation of competitiveness
clusters. The French private sectoris increasingly contributing to the innovation efforts, but
a more pervasive start-up culture and a more thriving innovation ecosystem need to be
nurtured. The system can be characterized by being in transition, but still government
ministries-driven.
For the case of China, the paper highlights the important role of the early technology
cluster Zhongguancun (ZGC) in Beijing, sometimes called the Silicon Valley of China. ZGC
has some positive characteristics for economic growth. These include government support,
spinoffs as well as agglomeration effects, much like the clustering effects in Silicon Valley.
But the most exciting development in China is the growthof its internet-related sector. The
paper argues that the internet-driven economy is a disruptive, systemic technological
change, and it is rapidly expanding in China. China has the important advantage of scale
and a very deep pool of talents. The Chineseinternet firms are fast and nimble, and there is
an intense domestic competition. The private internet sector is thriving in innovation
activities, despite difficult government regulations and control. Digital China also is now
focusing on global expansion, and it may well have the ability to disrupt the global
innovation market in a significant way. The system in China can be viewed as a hybrid
model, where domestic private firmsare thriving, but with the government providing heavy
regulations whileat the same time giving favorable supporting policies.
The paper points out that the ultimate benchmark of comparison is still Silicon Valley,
with its dynamism, robust innovation system and an entrenched start-up culture. Silicon
Valley is also blessed with world-class research universities, including the University of
California and Stanford University. This paperis one of the earliest papers in the literature
that focuses on the comprehensivecomparisons of innovation systems and policies in Silicon
Valley,France and China.
The next paper “FinTechs in China—with a Special Focus on Peer to Peer Lending”is
by Caroline Stern, Mikko Mäkinen and Zongxin Qian. The authors first describe the
recent development of payment services and peer-to-peer (P2P) lending in China and then
analyze empirically the determinants of such lending in different Chinese regions for the
JCEFTS
10,3
190
Journalof Chinese Economic and
ForeignTrade Studies
Vol.10 No. 3, 2017
pp. 190-193
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1754-4408
DOI 10.1108/JCEFTS-08-2017-0025
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