三分之一理想

IN PURSUIT OF “CREATED BY CHINA” 

A long time in China will make you realize where it is at. It is no long a country of black or white. Certainly, it is no longer a feudal country where marriage partners are appointed by parents, although some other feudal ways of thinking still remain. Also, it is no longer the world’s biggest sweat factory. Rather, it is a complex country where quirky things happen, which are both exciting and frustrating. 

MAKING IT HAPPEN

In the early 2000s, the then-president Jiang proposed “the innovation is the soul of a country and the momentum of a nation.” His broadcast marked the beginning of the country’s ambition to shift from “made in China to created by China”. Afterwards, “innovation” became a key word in many major political meetings and soon the slogan began appearing everywhere. Following this new concept, the vast majority of projects, ranging from enterprise-level to state-level, contained “innovative” elements. Now, if you roaming mega cities such as Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou, you will find many exciting ideas associated with high-quality life—LOFT(life, office, fashion and taste), art galleries are everywhere. Especially in Beijing, you can meet many of interesting people from a variety of backgrounds. The common title of “Beijing Floater”(北漂Bei Piao) describes many of them, who often work as artists. 

OPPORTUNITIES FOR OUTSIDERS

Here, the “outsiders” means foreigners, which interestingly even includes Hong Kong and Taiwan. Hong Kongers and Taiwanese flock to China to introduce their “advanced ideas,” and many of them find a huge market on the mainland. Perhaps the most important factor in their success is Hong Kong and Taiwanese businessmen’s insight into mainlanders’ thought process—politically correct is of major significance—never mention Taiwan is a country in front of a Mainlander; always say Hongkong is a part of China even if you have no knowledge about mainland at all. These HongKongers and Taiwaness have some American and British experiences and on arriving here, they would tell you that, “I have been studying in the US for many years and worked in this industry in Taiwan, US and the UK…” no matter if it is true or not. Believe it or not, many mainlanders in this industry would be impressed. 

INNOVATION BASED ON THE ORIGINALS

Starbucks and IKEA, which 30 years ago could have been labeled as representatives of the “decadent Western lifestyle,” have begun to be recognized and welcomed by Chinese consumers, who are impressed by the better designed and standardized service qualitiy. Hence, Starbucks has become the most popular place for young urbanites to experience the exotic western life. Seeing the popularity of such places, Chinese businesspersons immediately smelled the opportunity for profit. But, the question was how to make money? Thinking about this, the Japanese entrepreneur’s case of success through copying would automatically appear in Chinese entrepreneurs’ mind—COPY. But, how to copy? The solution, to avoid the legal tangles of violating copyrights and still gain the benefits of someone else’s innovation, was unique. President Jiang’s phrase “innovation is the soul of a country and the momentum of a nation” became the guideline for making copies.  

One of the most interesting cases is “Super Girls”, which you might have heard of. The show premiered in the summer of 2005, and according to CVSC-Sofres Media, gained an audience rating amounting to 8 per cent of the entire country. The idea of the show came from American Idol. But why was it called “Super Girls”? (the producer Hu Nan Satellite TV had the same contest model in 2007, called “Super Boy”) The answer is simple—copyright. If Hu Nan TV used the exact same model as American Idol, they would most likely to be sued by the original producers. But, in order to avoid this, here came the “Super Girl/Boy” model. This is innovation, isn’t it?! 

Also, there are examples of the same logic being used in cell phone production. Such copies are popular among many people, but are regarded as second class products by others.  It may be surprising that skills at copy could be so sophisticated, but it the lifeblood of much of Chinese innovation.

See how it works?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59kFfubw2Vk&eurl=http://hi.baidu.com/sakuras_taisens/blog/item/ce96da1f53cd1d67f724e4fe.html&feature=player_embedded

(you can purchase it on Chinese Ebay—www.taobao.com. it is just 999RMB) 

So, this is the INNOVATION, Chinese style. I would say for the moment it is really smart, although it obviously lacks real INNOVATION, which is the core. But, who cares?