China has long been known as a copycat country. Watches, clothing, movies, software... you name it, you can probably find a fake version of it in China. The U.S. and other affected countries have tried in vain to curtail Chinese knockoffs. Just yesterday, House Speaker John Boehner pushed President Hu Jintao for stronger intellectual property protections.
While China's method of R&D (rip-off & duplicate) remains strong, several companies I visited expressed that this trend is changing. These companies explained that, more and more, China is learning how to be on the forefront of design and innovation.
John Kao, author of Innovation Nation, agrees. He argues that China's mixture of a state-driven innovation agenda along with a surge of independent entrepreneurs has propelled the country to where it is today.
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