[adrianN]

China has a billion people and produces vast and rapidly growing numbers of highly skilled academics, both in their local universities and by sending students abroad. Many of the smartest people I know are Chinese and have returned to China after completing their degrees and collecting experience in western companies.

[chillacy]

I don’t want to take a side but the parent is almost certainly going to point out that academic papers != innovation (especially with the news that lots of papers from China have falsified data, paper mills, etc).

What are actual innovations made by China in the past 20 years? On demand bikes comes to mind as one example.

[adrianN]

I'm no expert on the matter, but I hear that they have excellent supply chains and extremely flexible assembly lines.

[aembleton]

e-Cigs and consumer drones.