The Innovative Performance of China’s National Innovation System

The objective of this paper is to investigate the innovative performance of China’s NIS ininternational comparison and the capacity of China’s NIS in creating indigenous innovation.We provide insights drawing upon patent data and using patent families to determine the valueof the underlying invention. For the timeframe we studied, China’s comparative advantageexists in the creation of low value innovative performance, albeit increasingly in huge quantities.Constantly rising volumes of patent applications mirror both, the improved protection ofintellectual property rights and increasing capacity for inventiveness. Supplemented by thecontinuous growth of the Chinese economy, improving conditions are reflected and reinforcedby more R&D-intense FDI. Foreign firms’ innovative performance associated with highereconomic value is particularly strong..