The eighth G20 Summit was held in St. Petersburg on the 5th and 6th of September. Prior to this summit, an event was held in Beijing on the 3rd of September, which included the conference for the release of the Report on the Group of Twenty (G20) National Innovation Competitiveness Development (2011-2013), and the Innovation-Driven Development Strategy Symposium. This event was co-sponsored by the Social Sciences Academic Press (China), the Management World Magazine of the Development Research Center of the State Council and Fujian Normal University. Li Peilin, vice-president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), and Han Jun, deputy director of the Development Research Center of the State Council, attended the meeting and delivered their addresses.

Li Peilin pointed out that since the 2008 international financial crisis broke out, the G20 has played an important role in facilitating global economic recovery and growth as well as maintaining the stability of international financial markets. Currently the global economy remains fragile, said Li, adding that new economies as well as developing countries have successively fallen into such dilemmas as the economy slowing down and inflationary pressure increasing. Li stressed that with the instability and uncertainty of global recovery, it is important for us to meet the new opportunities and challenges of this changed situation, and we interpret competitiveness in national innovation and its function mechanism? from a peculiar perspective, and evaluate the competitiveness in this field of the members of the G20. He noted that in the future China will be able to remain competitive internationally only by conducting the transformation of the mode of economic development based on its national conditions, dealing well with the relations between technical innovation and economic drive and vigorously promoting comprehensive competitiveness.

Han Jun pointed out in his address that the global economic pattern has been set to be reshaped since the financial crisis broke out, and the pattern of global innovation competitiveness is changing. He claimed that at present four main trends have emerged. For one thing, the new economies are gradually providing the biggest impetus for global innovation. Secondly, innovative and technical elements are expanding more quickly all over the world. Thirdly, the innovation-driven development of the service economy is becoming an important engine for the development of new economies. Fourthly, in the era of the internet small and medium-sized enterprises are becoming central, and they possess enormous innovative vitality.

A relevant expert pointed out that the most important factor that affects innovation competitiveness is the competitiveness of the innovative base, which is the essential driving force that can raise the level of competitiveness in innovation. In addition, the competitiveness of the innovative environment has a direct impact on the national competitiveness in this field.

The U.S., Japan and Germany are the top three countries in the G20 national innovation competitiveness ranking, while China comes in the eighth place. China is the only developing country of the G20 to come in the top ten in this ranking, which shows that it has reached remarkable achievements in implementing innovation-driven strategies over recent years, vigorously promoting its competitiveness in national innovation.

Translated by Yu Hui

Revised by Gabriele Corsetti