文/謝祖樨譯/史小今

何為中國創(chuàng)新驅動力？

文/謝祖樨1譯/史小今

中國有創(chuàng)新的能力嗎？這是一個飽受爭議的問題。很多人，尤其是西方人對中國的創(chuàng)新能力充滿懷疑。然而，不僅很多外國人不相信中國的創(chuàng)新能力，許多中國人一樣嘲諷“中國創(chuàng)新”的概念。

Is China capable of innovating? This is a controversial question. Plenty of people, especially those in the West are doubtful of China’s innovative capabilities. But it’s not just outside of China where you find non-believers, many Chinese also mock the concept of “Chinese innovation”.

[2]2014年春，我在《歐洲的世界》發(fā)表文章《不要小看中國的創(chuàng)新潛力》，闡述我對中國創(chuàng)新潛力的觀點。2015年10月，在《經濟學人》的熊彼得專欄里，中國被認為在某些方面具備創(chuàng)新的能力。而“某些方面”主要是指中國為適應快速變化的環(huán)境在業(yè)務模式創(chuàng)新上做出敏捷反應的能力。

[2] In the spring of 2014, I published inEurope’s Worldan article entitled“Don’t Belittle the Potential of China’s Innovation”. In this article, I described my perspective on China’s innovation potential. In October, 2015, in the Schumpeter22《經濟學人》2009年開設的專欄，以美籍奧地利政治經濟學家約瑟夫·熊彼得（Joseph Schumpeter，1883—1950）的名字命名。熊彼得是少數(shù)能以客觀眼光看待商業(yè)的知識分子。他認為經濟進步的核心就是創(chuàng)新，創(chuàng)新讓新企業(yè)有機會取代老企業(yè)，同時也給予新企業(yè)以創(chuàng)新的動力。他曾將資本主義比作“具有創(chuàng)造性破壞力的永恒風暴”（the perennial gale of creative destruction），這也是他最常被人引用的話。column ofThe Economist,China was acknowledged as capable of innovation in certain areas. These“certain areas” were referring to China’s capability to create highly adaptive and responsive business model innovations in a fast changing environment.

[3]這是西方主流媒體首次公開認可中國的創(chuàng)新能力。最近，有更多的西方媒體開始談論中國的創(chuàng)新能力。2016年12月，《連線》雜志發(fā)表了一篇文章，探討了青年科技創(chuàng)業(yè)者尤其是互聯(lián)網(wǎng)創(chuàng)業(yè)者在中國激增的現(xiàn)象。2016年3月的《連線》封面展現(xiàn)了西方對中國創(chuàng)新能力認知的大逆轉。置于小米創(chuàng)始人雷軍的照片下的標題寫道：“是時候模仿中國了——你可以從最具創(chuàng)意的初創(chuàng)公司中學到什么？”今年1月，優(yōu)步公司CEO特拉維斯·卡蘭尼克在北京發(fā)表演說并預測，在未來的5年中，中國的創(chuàng)新將超過硅谷。他還警告硅谷的同事們，要意識到這種范式轉變，不能自滿?！哆B線》、特拉維斯·卡蘭尼克、《經濟學人》都非等閑之輩，對于全球商業(yè)和科技發(fā)展的動態(tài)了如指掌，其對于中國創(chuàng)新的看法值得我們注意。為什么中國創(chuàng)新的大幅進步最終引起了工業(yè)和意見領袖的關注？我認為原因有以下幾點：

[3] It was the fi rst time ever that mainstream, western media openly recognized China’s innovation capabilities. Recently, more western media are talking about China’s innovation capabilities. The December 2016 edition ofWiredpublished an article discussing the large surge in number of young tech entrepreneurs, especially internet entrepreneurs, in China. The cover ofWired’s March 2016 issue showed a complete reversal3reversal顛倒，逆轉。on how the west is now viewing China’s innovation capabilities. Placed beneath the face of Xiaomi founder Lei Jun are the headlines,“It’s Time to Copy China. What You Can Learn From Its Most Inventive Startups.”In January, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick gave a talk in Beijing where he forecasted that in the next five years, China’s innovation will surpass that of Silicon Valley. He also warned his colleagues in Silicon Valley that they need to be aware of this paradigm shift and cannot become complacent.Wired, Travis Kalanick, andThe Economistare not marginal players. They all have their fingers on the pulse of4have one’s finger on the pulse of熟悉，了解；緊跟最新動態(tài)。global business and technology. Their views on China’s innovation are worth taking note of. So why is China’s innovation apparently taking a giant leap forward forcing industry and opinion leaders to fi nally taking note. I think it’s because of the following reasons:

1.“為什么不是我？”：上世紀70年代末，中國改革開放拉開序幕，中國人發(fā)現(xiàn)，中國經濟和世界經濟差距巨大。

1. “Why not me?”: At the end of the1970s during the onset5onset開始。of China’s era of reform and opening to the world, the Chinese discovered that the gap between the Chinese economy and those economies was vast.

2.轉型中的激烈競爭：中國從計劃經濟向市場經濟的轉型過程是循序漸進的。這種轉型已經歷了幾十年的時間，如果要完全過渡的話，可能還要再花上幾十年時間。在這期間，一系列商業(yè)領域被開放。中國巨大的市場規(guī)模持續(xù)吸引著大量競爭者并引發(fā)激烈的競爭。超競爭環(huán)境激勵企業(yè)提高自身競爭力，而創(chuàng)新則是企業(yè)保持領先的最佳途徑。

2. Transformative and intense competition: China’s process of shifting from a planned economy to a market economy is gradual. It’s taken several decades already and would likely take another couple of decades more, if ever to completely transition. During this shift over time, a range of sectors were opened up. The allure of the China market’s massive scale continues to attract numerous players and ignites6ignite刺激，引起。intense competition. The hyper competition7美國著名學者理查德·戴維尼（Richard D’Avani）1994年提出的觀點。他認為，今天的企業(yè)處在超強競爭的環(huán)境下，持續(xù)優(yōu)勢是不存在的，只有通過打破現(xiàn)狀才能獲得一系列短暫優(yōu)勢。因此，長期的成功需要動態(tài)戰(zhàn)略，不斷地去創(chuàng)造、毀滅又再造短期優(yōu)勢。戰(zhàn)略目標將是打破現(xiàn)狀，而不是建立穩(wěn)定和平衡。spurs companies to enhance their competitiveness and innovation is the best way for companies to stay ahead.

3.移動互聯(lián)網(wǎng)的興起：當然，這是一個關鍵驅動因素。當互聯(lián)網(wǎng)、智能終端和社交媒體已經成為中國消費者日常生活的重心時，這就為創(chuàng)新者和創(chuàng)業(yè)者們提供了顛覆性創(chuàng)新的機遇。

3. The rise of mobile internet: This of course is a key driving factor. With the internet, smart devices, and social media becoming a core part of the everyday life of Chinese consumers, this provides tremendous disruption opportunities for innovators and entrepreneurs alike.

4.中國市場的龐大規(guī)模：中國市場的規(guī)模和快速演變屬性允許企業(yè)快速擴張。與此同時，也給了創(chuàng)新創(chuàng)業(yè)者們不斷摸索中學習的大量空間。對于中國市場潛力的良好預期讓領頭的中國企業(yè)獲得高估值并從中獲利，讓他們獲得了支持其成長所需的資本“彈藥”。

4. The massive scale of the Chinese market: The size and fast changing nature of China’s market allow companiesto rapidly scale up. At the same time, it provides plenty of room for innovators and entrepreneurs to learn via trial and error. Leading Chinese companies are also bene fi tting from high valuations that are based on favorable forward looking expectations of China’s market potential. This gives them the needed capital ammunition8ammunition〈比喻〉戰(zhàn)斗手段。to support their growth.

5.資本資源：在中國，經過過去20年的發(fā)展，很多風投公司和天使投資人已經在對中國的投資中獲得了高額回報。無論這些投資來自境外還是本土，隨著時間的推移，中國企業(yè)亦從這些投資者提供的巨量資本中獲益匪淺。

5. Capital resources: Over the past 20 years of China’s development, many venture capital firms and angel investors have benefitted from exceptional returns from their investments in China. Regardless of whether these investors came from abroad or were homegrown, Chinese companies have also greatly bene fi ted from the vast sums of capital these investors have provided over time.

[4]中國已經進入一個新的時代。年輕且呈指數(shù)級增長的新一代創(chuàng)業(yè)者為國家注入新的能量和活力。當然，在創(chuàng)新和創(chuàng)業(yè)的過程中，很少有人能成功或嘗試一次便成功，也有不少人會失敗。也許在特定的情況下，政府還會干預。但是，只要創(chuàng)業(yè)者們不違法或者欺騙消費者，中國社會是允許和歡迎試錯的。這個時代，這個中國創(chuàng)業(yè)者的時代，將給中國漫長的歷史帶來真正的突破性變革。□

[4] China has entered new era. A new generation of entrepreneurs defined by their youth and exponential growth nature has generated new energy and vigor into the country. Of course, in the process of innovation and entrepreneurial pursuits, only a few would succeed or succeed at the first try. Perhaps in certain situations the government would interfere. But as long as these entrepreneurs do not break laws or defraud9defraud騙取，詐?。ㄥX財）。consumers, China’s society now allows and welcomes trials and errors. This era—the era of China’s entrepreneurs—is bringing forth real ground breaking times in China’s long history.

What Drives China’s Innovation?

ByEdward Tse

1 謝祖樨（Edward Tse）， 高風管理咨詢公司創(chuàng)始人兼CEO。

（譯者單位：清華大學社科學院）