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Fact Sheet

SED III Innovation Outcomes
“Building an Innovative Society” Conference
December 10, 2007

At the May 2007 Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED), the United States and China agreed to Principles and Outcomes for Strengthening Innovation Cooperation (SED Principles and Outcomes), including a decision to “jointly host a seminar on the innovation ecosystem in 2007 that would gather experts to discuss and share experiences on both sides regarding the critical elements of developing an environment conducive to technological innovation.”

To realize this commitment, the U.S. Departments of Commerce and State and the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology co-hosted an Innovation Conference on December 10, 2007 in Beijing. At this important meeting, both sides:

  • Discussed critical factors that contribute to a successful ecosystem for innovation and creativity across a range of industry sectors;
  • Highlighted the globalization of innovation and creativity and its implications for public policy and the U.S.-China economic relationship, and the appropriate roles of the public and private sectors in fostering innovation;
  • Shared strategies on how to encourage businesses to create, protect, and disseminate intellectual assets in the global marketplace, and highlighted the role of intellectual asset development to companies’ success in developing products and services that meet real market needs and add value through global innovation chains;
  • Reaffirmed that innovation is best fostered where there is effective rule of law, and where governments pursue market-oriented policies that encourage merit-based competition, entrepreneurship, commercialization of new technologies, and flexibility for users and producers in choosing among competing technologies; and
  • Confirmed the essential role of a robust intellectual property protection and enforcement regime in supporting an innovation ecosystem.

SED Innovation next steps:

Building upon this Innovation Conference, the United States and China have agreed to continue advancing bilateral engagement on innovation policy matters to further our agreed SED II Principles and Outcomes. As part of this effort, the United States and China intend to:

  • Sustain Dialogue:
    • Continue government-to-government interagency meetings on the SED Principles and Outcomes in order to deepen shared understanding and pursue additional measures to strengthen both countries' innovation capacities. For example, as part of the High Level Framework on Standards and Trade-Related Technical Measures, pursue in depth U.S.-China interagency discussions on the facilitation and promotion of market-driven and innovation oriented standards, with appropriate participation of the private sector;
    • Jointly host additional public-private discussions on innovation in Chinese and U.S. cities, with experts from business, academia, and U.S. and Chinese government officials;
  • Foster Innovation:
    • Under the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Scientific and Technological Cooperation (JCM), pursue measures that would strengthen both countries' innovation capacities, specifically encouraging academic exchanges and cooperation of scientists from both countries. In particular, promoting the exchanges of young scientists; fostering long-term stable partnerships between/among Universities from both countries; and discussing future large-scale research projects and opportunities for international collaboration both in bilateral and multilateral fora;
    • Deepen bilateral exchanges and cooperation to enhance the infrastructure of laws, policies, programs, and incentives that encourage innovation;
  • Measure Innovation: Share U.S. and Chinese innovation measurement best practices, such as best practices emerging from the U.S. Measuring Innovation Initiative, www.innovationmetrics.gov;
  • Support Technology Choice: Publicly support established innovation-related principles that are based on sound economics.