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John D. Van Fleet, from the U.S., serves as an adjunct faculty member and Director of Corporate Globalization at Antai College of Economics and Management, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He has been dedicated to researching the path of innovative development with Chinese characteristics.
“What has caught my attention and my imagination over all these years is the level of innovation that I’m seeing from Chinese enterprises,” said Prof. Fleet.
He also pointed out that the Chinese enterprises are not just innovating in China but also taking these innovations to the global stage. He speaks highly of Chinese people’s efforts in proposing new ideas, products, and services. In his eyes, China is becoming a innovation pioneer globally.
More than a decade ago, he began to notice that Chinese companies’ innovation, whether in the fields of e-commerce, smartphones, or electric vehicles, China has become a significant player.
In China, the strong duo of e-commerce and smartphones work off of each other. The country is the base of hardware innovation, application innovation, and is the home to the world's largest market –due to the purchasing power of nearly a billion people in China.
Today, hundreds of millions of people in China are "consumers" for the global market. This indicates tremendous economic strength that not only shapes the future of China but also that of the world.
According to Fleet, he has a “front-row seat” for the new era when living in China and he feels pretty lucky about that.
“Actually, I have season tickets for China for more than 20 years now. And I hope to keep renewing those season tickets for many years to come,” he concluded.
19 January 2024
