From imitation to innovation: How China became a tech superpower | WIRED UK
From imitation to innovation: How China became a tech superpower | WIRED UK
In the early 2000s, this corner of Zhongguancun – the area of northern
Beijing now often referred to as China’s Silicon Valley – was mostly
famous for its sprawling electronics markets. There were several
high-rise buildings, in which you could roam vast open floors connected
by narrow escalators and packed with stalls selling everything from
cameras to TVs, DVD players to toasters, dancing Santas to neon dildos.
Some items were made by major, household brands such as Samsung, Nokia,
and Canon; many more of them were knock-off products, with names
creatively similar to the “real” thing. Most of the time, the
electronics were assembled in China; almost never were they invented in
China. This image is still deeply ingrained in the western imagination –
that of the industrious “copycat” nation.
In the early 2000s, this corner of Zhongguancun – the area of northern
Beijing now often referred to as China’s Silicon Valley – was mostly
famous for its sprawling electronics markets. There were several
high-rise buildings, in which you could roam vast open floors connected
by narrow escalators and packed with stalls selling everything from
cameras to TVs, DVD players to toasters, dancing Santas to neon dildos.
Some items were made by major, household brands such as Samsung, Nokia,
and Canon; many more of them were knock-off products, with names
creatively similar to the “real” thing. Most of the time, the
electronics were assembled in China; almost never were they invented in
China. This image is still deeply ingrained in the western imagination –
that of the industrious “copycat” nation.
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