China’s New Innovation Advantage episode artwork

EPISODE · Jun 12, 2026 · 8 MIN

China’s New Innovation Advantage

from Harvard Business Review · host HBR

China’s New Innovation Advantage 13 Apr 2021 --- China is achieving a new level of global competitiveness, thanks to its hyper-adaptive population, says Zak Dychtwald, author of "Young China" and founder of Young China Group. 0:00: The future of the Chinese economy is in innovation 0:32: What’s behind China’s new innovation advantage? 1:05: We shouldn’t be so focused on the innovators 1:37: Why do people in China adopt new technologies so readily? 2:05: China is an outlier in a very important way 3:38: What’s so powerful about having all these early adopters? 5:07: What can companies in other countries learn from China? To understand what’s powering the global rise of Chinese companies, we need to recognize that China now has at its disposal a resource that no other country has. That is: a vast population that has lived through unprecedented amounts of change and, consequently, has developed an astonishing propensity for adopting and adapting to innovations, at a speed and scale that is unmatched elsewhere on earth. It’s that aspect of China’s innovation ecosystem—its hundreds of millions of hyper-adoptive and hyper-adaptive consumers—that makes China so globally competitive today. In the end, innovations must be judged by people’s willingness to use them. And on that front China has no peer. More at: https://hbr.org/2021/05/chinas-new-innovation-advantage --------------------------------------------------------------------- At Harvard Business Review, we believe in management. If the world’s organizations and institutions were run more effectively, if our leaders made better decisions, if people worked more productively, we believe that all of us — employees, bosses, customers, our families, and the people our businesses affect — would be better off. So we try to arm our readers with ideas that help them become smarter, more creative, and more courageous in their work. We enlist the foremost experts in a wide range of topics, including career planning, strategy, leadership, work-life balance, negotiations, innovation, and managing teams. Harvard Business Review empowers professionals around the world to lead themselves and their organizations more effectively and to make a positive impact. Sign up for Newsletters: https://hbr.org/email-newsletters​​ Follow us: https://hbr.org/​​ https://www.linkedin.com/company/harvard-business-review https://www.facebook.com/HBR/​​ https://twitter.com/HarvardBiz​​ https://www.instagram.com/harvard_business_review #China #Innovation #HarvardBusinessReview Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

China’s New Innovation Advantage 13 Apr 2021 --- China is achieving a new level of global competitiveness, thanks to its hyper-adaptive population, says Zak Dychtwald, author of "Young China" and founder of Young China Group. 0:00: The future of the Chinese economy is in innovation 0:32: What’s behind China’s new innovation advantage? 1:05: We shouldn’t be so focused on the innovators 1:37: Why do people in China adopt new technologies so readily? 2:05: China is an outlier in a very important way 3:38: What’s so powerful about having all these early adopters? 5:07: What can companies in other countries learn from China? To understand what’s powering the global rise of Chinese companies, we need to recognize that China now has at its disposal a resource that no other country has. That is: a vast population that has lived through unprecedented amounts of change and, consequently, has developed an astonishing propensity for adopting and adapting to innovations, at a speed and scale that is unmatched elsewhere on earth. It’s that aspect of China’s innovation ecosystem—its hundreds of millions of hyper-adoptive and hyper-adaptive consumers—that makes China so globally competitive today. In the end, innovations must be judged by people’s willingness to use them. And on that front China has no peer. More at: https://hbr.org/2021/05/chinas-new-innovation-advantage --------------------------------------------------------------------- At Harvard Business Review, we believe in management. If the world’s organizations and institutions were run more effectively, if our leaders made better decisions, if people worked more productively, we believe that all of us — employees, bosses, customers, our families, and the people our businesses affect — would be better off. So we try to arm our readers with ideas that help them become smarter, more creative, and more courageous in their work. We enlist the foremost experts in a wide range of topics, including career planning, strategy, leadership, work-life balance, negotiations, innovation, and managing teams. Harvard Business Review empowers professionals around the world to lead themselves and their organizations more effectively and to make a positive impact. Sign up for Newsletters: https://hbr.org/email-newsletters​​ Follow us: https://hbr.org/​​ https://www.linkedin.com/company/harvard-business-review https://www.facebook.com/HBR/​​ https://twitter.com/HarvardBiz​​ https://www.instagram.com/harvard_business_review #China #Innovation #HarvardBusinessReview Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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This episode was published on June 12, 2026.

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China’s New Innovation Advantage 13 Apr 2021 --- China is achieving a new level of global competitiveness, thanks to its hyper-adaptive population, says Zak Dychtwald, author of "Young China" and founder of Young China Group. 0:00: The future...

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