Remade in South China: Bottom Up Innovation in Guangdong

Guangdong, located in South China, and its core area, the Pearl River Delta, have become the most vibrant hub of innovation in China. This book traces Guangdong’s journey from its successful rise as the “world factory” at the end of the 20th century to its current status as China’s center for innovative industries, revealing the internal mechanisms of the “black box” of how the Chinese economy gained the innovation advantage. The book summarizes Guangdong’s development experience as a “bottom-up” innovation model, where in the stages of factor-driven, investment-driven, and innovation-driven development, companies’ strategies of technology and innovation strategies align with and mutually reinforce local governments’ industrial and development policies, collectively creating an upward-spreading innovation network and system that forms a unique regional economic growth engine. The book’s discussion on technology learning strategies, absorptive capacity, dynamic capabilities, R&D investment, innovation platforms, innovation ecosystems, and regional innovation policies holds valuable reference for government officials, corporate executives, business scholars, economists, and journalists.

Wei Zhao is currently a Senior Fellow at Institute of Public Policy, South China University of Technology. He is also an Associate Researcher with ESSCA EU-Asia Institute and Centre d’économie de l’Université Paris Nord (CEPN). From 2006 to 2023, he was a Professor at ESSCA School of Management and ESC Saint-Etienne in France. Before academia, he was Marketing Director of a Hong Kong properties company and Director of Public Affairs with Carrefour in South China. During 2011 and 2022, he worked as PI with the think tank established jointly by the Guangdong Provincial Government and Sun Yat-Sen University. He holds a Master in Sociology from Sun Yat-Sen University (China) and a PhD in Economics from Paris 3 University (France).

Wei Zhaois currently a Senior Fellow at Institute of Public Policy, South China University of Technology. He is also an Associate Researcher with ESSCA EU-Asia Institute and Centre d’économie de l’Université Paris Nord (CEPN). From 2006 to 2023, he was a Professor at ESSCA School of Management and ESC Saint-Etienne in France. Before academia, he was Marketing Director of a Hong Kong properties company and Director of Public Affairs with Carrefour in South China. During 2011 and 2022, he worked as PI with the think tank established jointly by the Guangdong Provincial Government and Sun Yat-Sen University. He holds a Master in Sociology from Sun Yat-Sen University (China) and a PhD in Economics from Paris 3 University (France).