It is well understood that innovation is distinct from invention. Invention is the creation of something new, often with a technical meaning. Inventions can be patented. Innovation is also about new things; new products, production processes, services and novel business models. But this is only the first side of the coin. The other side isabout bringing the new product or service into use and commercial value.
China’s emergence onto the world stage has created unprecedented opportunities and challenges to business people and policy makers from all over the world. China has become a market, an investment location, a production platform, and a competitor. But what is China’s true underlying competitiveness? In which industries will China lead and in which will it lag? What and where are China’s major clusters and how strong will they be? What is China’s influence on other economies in the region and the world? How will other economies compete with China?
How can companies understand China’s different regions and benefit from China’s regional development? What programs and policies will be necessary to develop competitive clusters in the new environment? How do my nation or regions’ own clusters stack up against the world’s best? Several of the world’s leading experts on clustering and regional development will address these questions and others at the 8th Annual Conference of The Competitiveness Institute, to be organized by the Hong Kong Institute of Economics and Business Strategy of The University of Hong Kong.
