The term zizhu chuangxin (自主创新) first appeared in 1994 when Dr. Chen Jin referenced the term in his research on technologically led innovation in the
electronics industry in China. It has been increasingly used since 2006, after
Hu Jintao and
Wen Jiabao declared that China should become an 'innovation-oriented' (创新型国家) nation. Following this, Chinese government, academics, and business focused increasingly on identifying and developing (nurturing) self-motivated indigenous capabilities (自主创新能力) among individual, enterprises, research organizations and universities. So far academics in China have not come to any consensus on the appropriate English translation of the term. The most commonly used translations include: (1) Endogenous Innovation (from neo-classical economics perspective, also from growth theory); (2) Indigenous Innovation (from evolutionary economics, resource based view perspectives); (3) Others including 'Self-reliant Innovation'; 'Self-determined Innovation'; 'Self-oriented Innovation'; 'Self-directed Innovation'; and 'Independent Innovation'. The Chinese term '自主创新' has become one of the core concepts of the
reform and opening up. In the United States, the pioneering research on how technological-led indigenous innovation evolved in China was done by late Dr. Qiwen Lu. In Lu's 1997
Harvard Ph.D. thesis on the emergence and growth of three of China's major computer companies - Stone, Legend, and Founder (also see Lazonick 2004), - his approach on the theory of innovative enterprise in China was developed. Lu's book 'China's Leap into the
Information Age' was published by
Oxford University Press in 2000, with updated analyses of Stone, Legend, and Founder as well as the inclusion of the case of Great Wall. Lu died shortly after the publication. In China, publications on science and technological innovation started to emerge after 1993 (Nian 2000) and the concept of National Systems of Innovation started to develop led by several research organizations in China such as
China State Council Development Research Center (DRC) 国务院发展研究中心; Institute of Policy and Management, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CASIPM) and
Tsinghua University. In March 2013,
Xi Jinping, the General Secretary of the China Communist Party, called for a strong innovation-led growth in the
Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee Meeting, see Xinhua (2013). The China innovation policy is expected to continue and lead the country from a low cost, production-led economy (low- to medium-technology industries) to a so-called knowledge-based economy (medium- to high-technology products and services). However, the discussions on zizhu chuangxin did not touch much on the traditional industries from evolutionary economics perspective which characterized by their highly original, traditional and/or cultural-rich knowledge and practices. Indigenous knowledge and skills as assets were used, improved and still play a key part in many traditional sectors in developed and emerging countries (e.g., food & drink sector; cultural and entertainment sector). Lai in his PhD study (PhD 2013, Manchester, UK) investigated the case of Chinese medicine's innovation processes and used the term 'Indigenous Innovation' to differentiate it from the technological-driven innovation perspective. ==National Indigenous Innovation Capability (NIIC): 国家自主创新能力 Guójiā Zìzhǔ chuàngxīn Nénglì==