32 Comments Add your own

• 1. Simeon Trieu  |  February 2nd, 2008 at 11:09 am

  There’s a reason that the silicon valley hasn’t been reproduced anywhere in even the US, much less overseas. We have several factors that contribute to the silicon valley’s success (and incidentally, California’s success overall). Paul Graham, in his self titled blog, wrote a great article on how people create the silicon valley. To sum up his blog article and inject some of my own thoughts, the silicon valley is successful because they have the brightest minds from around the world, the richest people from around the world, and one of the best state governments around the world.

  The first are the creative people who make the companies that we so revere collectively as the silicon valley. They come up with the ideas, have the plans to execute them, and also the determination and personality to see it through. Also, they are often times not just business savvy, but technologically savvy as well. These people come, not only from the US, but also from around the world. California has a rich diversity that contributes to society in a great number of ways.

  The second are the rich venture capitalists who fund these companies of the creative people. Without the funds, we would not have the growth of the silicon valley as we have today. These sources are not just from California, or even from the US.. they come from places like India and China, as we’ve discussed previously in other blog posts. India, in particular, is buying up many companies as investments.

  The third is the world-class government that we have in California, who is supportive of businesses and helping them succeed. California has a very laissez-faire attitude that lets businesses do what they want within legal requirements. Land in China, as we learned in Dr. Bardhan’s lecture, is owned by the Chinese state. Hefei would not work as a “silicon valley” because they are too strict about property rights. If they had the provincial level government have more control over the land, then they might be able to see a silicon valley.

  The point is that these three factors are critical in having a success in California, as we’ve seen. China is just too closed off and unsupportive of privately owned businesses to see the creativity flourish as in the silicon valley. Sorry Hefei. Not today.

• 2. Chris Carr  |  February 2nd, 2008 at 11:24 am

  There is also another factor …

  California, per its legal system, does not enforce non compete agreements (except in very limited circumstances). Thus, an employee from Microsoft in SF can go work for Apple in Cupertino the next day, unless they are bringing stolen trade secrets with them.

  Compare Route 128 near Boston and Harvard. The state of Massachusetts does enforce non-competes.

  Look at the difference between Route 128 and Silicon Valley.

  SLO and Cal Poly have been trying to create a mini-technology park that is a very small version of Silicon Valley for years. But, it fails every time, in part because nobody here wants to allow a house to be built that can house said high end workers. More of the same old, “I am here and have my house, but let’s close the gates and you can’t come if you need to build a house.” Those same people then bitch about how retail jobs don’t pay a livable wage. Ya think?

  Indeed, Silicon Valley is special.

• 3. Sin-Yaw Wang  |  February 4th, 2008 at 5:16 pm

  Indeed, special. So many places try to be the “next” silicon valley.

  On the other hand, many have been somewhat successful in clustering similar business into an area with incentives. The clustering generates an economy of scale: suppliers, infra-structures, services, talents, etc. Those, in turn, generate economic burst much more than those incentives.

• 4. Chris Carr  |  February 5th, 2008 at 3:39 pm

  Sin Yaw,

  Thanks for the check in.

  You raise a very good point. The Chinese are remarkable at clustering. Clusters seem to exist everywhere. Yiwu being perhaps the best example. These clusters are no Silicon Valley, for sure, but perhaps the next best alternative that China can realistically execute.

• 5. Dan N  |  December 21st, 2010 at 8:58 am

  Simeon identifies one of Silicon Valley’s primary advantages as being its “creative people”. I think we tend to underestimate this factor in explaining California’s entrepreneurial success. The creativity, “outside-the-box” thinking, and risk-seeking behavior that typifies Silicon Valley scientists, entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists is a result of generations of natural selection. The most resilient, creative, and risk-seeking Europeans upset the status quo by migrating to America in the 18th century. Then these innovation ingredients were further refined by those who settled the West in the 19th century. Finally, with the barriers to immigration higher then ever, the risk-seekers from the rest of the world continued to find ways to join the party throughout the 20th century.

  The end result is a visionary spirit that runs through the veins of the people that make up the community of Silicon Valley. For these pioneers the rules are meant to be broken, the status quo is mean to be upset, and the impossible is inevitably possible.

  Silicon Valley is a perfect example of Darwin’s process of natural selection. It is the culmination of centuries of human behavior where risk-avoiders have chosen to accept the status quo while risk-takers have chosen to seek something better. Silicon Valley is the place where they all landed.

• 6. Cassie Bettencourt  |  January 5th, 2011 at 9:51 pm

  I thought that the ten “criteria” deemed necessary by Paul Graham to duplicate Silicon Valley, and the China Herald’s discussion on how China compares to these criteria were very insightful. It really comes down to the fact that China is just not ready to house a place like Silicon Valley. A large population is great for creating a talent pool, but the country doesn’t seem to have mastered the criteria necessary to foster this talent yet. As the linked blogs and some of the other comments have alluded too, Silicon Valley is a very unique place and it is a stretch to even think that another place in the US could become what Silicon Valley is today. The main takeaways from these posts in relation to what makes a country or city conducive to hosting a Silicon Valley are that the place “needs (capitalistic) diversity” and it “needs to create an attractive, culturally diverse climate for both academics and entrepreneurs.”

• 7. David Hart  |  January 8th, 2011 at 9:17 pm

  Judging from these articles, it does not seem as though China will have a Silicon Valley any time soon. There are too many factors involved that must come together to have such a place. The above links do a nice job of describing some of these. A duplication of Silicon Valley would have to come as a result of a number of factors, none of which see to be adding up anytime soon. Also, I found the responses from the “Why China Won’t Rule Tech” article to be especially interesting.

• 8. Chris Bruns  |  January 9th, 2011 at 8:07 pm

  I believe that this blog with its links to additional articles opened several areas of what is needed to create a Silicon Valley and if it is possible in China. It is my belief that in its current state, China doesn’t have the ability to foster a large hub of technology development and startups. I believe that the biggest issues that China faces are the lack of opportunity for so many of the citizens. After reading the recommended book for Fall quarter, ‘Postcards from Tomorrow Square: Reports from China,’ so many of the citizens in China are concerned with working and providing for families back home. With the focus on working, the majority of the citizens aren’t developing the skills and have the education to create the amount of technological advancement seen in Silicon Valley. Another issue that is present after reading these blogs is how diverse Silicon Valley is and its ability to draw talent from around the world. My favorite part of the article was the link to ‘Why China Won’t Rule Tech.’ With both articles and writers arguing opposite points of China’s future involvement in technology, there were very interesting and valid points to consider.

• 9. Jessie Wilkie  |  January 9th, 2011 at 8:53 pm

  I feel like a lot of the blogs that were listed here as references are very anti the idea of a Chinese Silicon Valley. I don’t think that this slant is very helpful to educating me. Just by doing a quick search of “China Silicon Valley” in Google I found the following articles:

  http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1954184,00.html
  http://www.china.org.cn/english/travel/51023.htm
  http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/2009/0209/china-aims-for-its-own-silicon-valley

  The articles bring up some interesting points and sort of balance out the bias of the ones listed in this blog. The first one is interesting because it discusses the fact that our tech companies (Google, Yahoo, Ebay, etc.) are having great difficulty expanding in the Chinese market. This expansion is essential to compete in this growing globalized economy. Google is facing pressures in Europe (a search engine in being developed there and in China (Baidu). This is potential terrible news for our Silicon Valley. The second article discusses Zhongguancun, which is a tech park in Beijing. It sounds like there is definitely potential to support a hi-tech center in China. Finally, the last article talks about the number of R&D labs being set up in China. It might not be these labs themselves that are startups, but rather employees who choose to leave and run with their own ideas.

  Finally, American educated Chinese people are going back to China. Yeah right Fallows.

  philosophy…http://www.pacificbridge.com/asianews.asp?id=212

• 10. Katie Moeller  |  January 12th, 2011 at 2:56 pm

  While the articles say no, I think yes. I don’t think building a Silicon Valley in China will happen in the next few years but maybe in the next 10 years. I think our world is going to be dependent on technology for our personal and professional lives. I don’t think China is going to sit by the way-side and let others capitalize on this opportunity. My assumption would be that the Chinese would come to the United States for the education and then go back to China to start their businesses. This reminds me of Postcards from Tomorrow Square in which they want an entrepreneurial spirit but it has limitations because of the class restrictions. Many people don’t own iPods, so how are they supposed to come up with the next idea? Same thing here. This might be their limitation. The people who do start the Chinese Silicon Valley, will need to be successful and provide opportunities to others to be a part of the growth. Maybe then a Silicon Valley will become a reality.

• 11. Jessica Shayler  |  January 19th, 2011 at 8:51 pm

  More than Paul Graham;s ten criteria to duplicate Silicon Valley, I feel GE Anderson’s comment about passion to be more to the point. Learning new things and adapting quickly, though admirable, is not the same as dreaming up something new. This is something that has become ingrained in American culture (as Dan mentioned) that is not part of Chinese culture at this time. So I agree with Cassie that China is just not ready to support a “Silicon Valley” right now. But it could…

  Enter Jessie. I appreciate the research she did to find the steps China is taking to enhance its edge in technology development. I don’t think we in the US will ever admit it even if China does succeed in developing its own form of the Valley. It’s bound to be different and so we will say it is not the same and therefore not as good. Who knows it might be better…?

  Oh, and incidentally, the US does not rank high in international comparisons of grade school math scores. Just do a search for “Trends in International Mathematics Study.”

• 12. Brady Haug  |  January 20th, 2011 at 9:10 pm

  I can’t say that China will not become a Silicon Valley at any point in time, but the article, “Why China Won’t Rule Tech,” does not give us the reasons why it would. I found the points that were stated to be pretty hilarious as validation for reasons why China’s innovation will grow. By stating that since Sony has closed all their US television manufacturing plants in the US is a reason why China will surpass the US is absurd. The article does pose the question as to whether China is capable or harboring its own Silicon Valley. As Dan alludes to, I think the true reason why Silicon Valley exists is because of the areas entrepreneurial spirit and the ability to attract and retain creative people. China is not ready or capable of producing this situation yet.

  The article, “Why Startups Condense in America” discusses ten points that create the environment for a technology cluster. In my opinion, the most key point is that “American Universities Are Better.” The presence of a top notch university, such as MIT, and a technology park, creates the foundation for innovation. The Chinese are coming to US universities in increasing numbers and we are globally considered to be among the greatest. Another factor that I haven’t considered is that VC funding is easier to obtain in the US. This is an example of the attitude and entrepreneurial spirit that the US has. A lack of VC funding dampens the public’s views toward even attempting tech startups. In the future, I think China will proper as a leading technological innovator, but changes have to occur first.

• 13. Robbin Forsyth  |  January 21st, 2011 at 9:18 am

  I agree with the China Law Blog that a Chinese “Silicon Valley” is a big “maybe”.
  It seems obvious that “clustered” technology development centers of some sort are evolving in China. I say “obvious” because of the clustered strategy that the Chinese government has implemented for export manufacturing. An example of this is the clustering of electronics in the Shenzhen area. It makes sense to have as much development as possible in the same location as manufacturing for logistic and cost reasons. Over the last 30 years, through government organization i.e.: forced joint venture investment, (and therefore with the knowledge and financing of foreign corporations) the Chinese have honed this model of centralized development and manufacturing. As noted on the China Law Blog, this is an engineer’s mindset. However, pure science and research are another matter and require a more creative, flexible and open-ended mindset. A more open-ended investment by the government and a few specific elements must be combined to foster pure science that will drive innovation.
  The most succinct way I have seen this outline is an article on the Foreign Policy website by Margaret O’Mara - http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/08/16/dont_try_this_at_home
  In this article she outlines three criteria for Silicon Valley’s success:
  1. Give a lot of money to brilliant people — and stay out of their way.
  The US government has been funding research in the San Jose area since as far back as the Eisenhower era. Much of this science leads nowhere. When it did lead to commercial products, the government was the biggest customer for many years through the defense industry.
  2. Find yourself a top-notch university, preferably one with room to spare.
  Without Stanford University, there would be no Silicon Valley. The quality of the school and is draw for top-notch science, engineering and business students from all over the world is the foundation for the human capital of the area.
  James Fallows reminds us that China does not have a single university ranked in the global top 100 research schools, (How Can America Rise Again?). China may be turning out more college grads domestically, but the best Chinese minds are not being educated in China. Retaining
  3. Don’t forget that location matters — and that people vote with their feet.
  Climate and culture are very important to retaining the people needed to drive innovation. Smart, highly educated and entrepreneurial people will ultimately live where they are comfortable. Dan Noland’s point about the power of the entrepreneurial mindset is important. If people see opportunity, they will suffer to engage that opportunity in the short term if needed. If those same people can engage that opportunity in a local that is stimulating and enjoyable to live in they will set down roots and build something special. That unique mix is Silicon Valley.

  I do think there will eventually be a Chinese “Silicon Valley” of sorts. Like so many other things in China, the factor of people’s long-term quality of life will be a large contributing factor. How long it could take is unknown at this point.

• 14. Randy Camat  |  January 21st, 2011 at 11:13 pm

  I do agree that in China’s current state, it cannot support a Silicon Valley. The main focus for the majority of the population is to work to support their families and get out of poverty. However, that focus and drive has brought up China as a world power. I don’t doubt China’s potential of getting another Silicon Valley - after all it did make its own Las Vegas that surpassed its original counterpart. The blog on Why China Won’t Rule Tech was very interesting. Both sides prove good points, but I think that battle went to Dan’s analysis. Ray’s logic was pretty biased and did make much sense once I thought it through and read the comments.

• 15. j hurley  |  January 25th, 2011 at 3:50 pm

  I agree that it takes a lot of factors that are all working together to form a place like silicon valley. The number one reason that Silicon Valley became a boom town was due to the large amount of rich people that invested into the sectors that were pushing technology. With out the financial backing, I think that it is safe to say that many if not most of the valley’s companies would have gone under at one point or another. However, because there was such a large amount of interest and other available resources (incredibly smart people) Silicon Valley was able to push through the difficult time that most other places can’t.
  Slo is still trying to build up a small technology-focused sector, and things are still moving slowly. However, many new robotic based companies have begun to appear due to local resources.

• 16. Kristine Spencer  |  February 1st, 2011 at 8:28 pm

  If there is one thing that I have learned, it is that anything is possible. Do I think that it is likely that China will have the next “new” Silicon Valley? No. Do I think that it is possible? Of course. China is undoubtedly becoming a rising force in the technology world, but there is only one Silicon Valley for a variety of reasons. China will have to make a lot of huge institutional changes, like are argued in the articles, before business, creativity, and ideas flow as freely as they do in the Silicon Valley. The culture issues would be a huge hurdle that China would have to overcome. It is extremely difficult to recreate culture and impossible to recreate creativity. In China, where the culture is so hierarchical and education is so non-participative, I don’t think that the Silicon Valley culture would flourish in China. I found these articles very interesting, but as the article “Why China Won’t Rule Tech” points out, Ray Kwong’s arguments are pretty ridiculous. It would have been nice to read something about China’s potential and strides that they have made developing technology. I wouldn’t doubt the will and desire of the Chinese people to have a Silicon Valley equivalent or something bigger.

• 17. Jason Jay Sharma  |  February 8th, 2011 at 3:24 am

  Will China be able to create its own Silicon Valley? No. Sometimes I wonder if Silicon Valley can re-create Silicon Valley before the tech bust. Chances are… it can’t.

  Growing up in Silicon Valley area, to me, the real Silicon Valley isn’t only a place, but it was also a time period. There was a time when every start-up named would be successful, but those times have passed. Silicon Valley was the ultimate culmination of creativity, money, talent, timing, pure genius, and to some extent the great weather. Those were great times, and I wish I was old enough to have been working in them. I’ve dreamed of working in a successful start-up, but the number of start-up and pre-start-ups I’ve been a part of it too numerous. Sigh.

  Paul Graham’s list of needed items to duplicate Silicon Valley, I thought, was very relevant and I agreed with the list for the most part. While most of the items could have various exceptions, the single item that couldn’t was the quality of university education in the United States. The increasingly large number of individuals who come to America to be students is proof enough that our schools cannot be beat–not much more needs to be said on that.

  As for “Why China Won’t Rule Tech,” I completely agree with Dan (the author of the post). The Forbes post he discredits has more holes in it than Swiss Cheese. However, I suppose the author of the original Forbes post proves his own point about the failing math education in the United States–he couldn’t even appropriately apply ratio analysis when comparing the number of individuals with high IQ’s in China versus the United States (four times the population, you would expect four times as many people with high IQ’s). Swiss Cheese.

• 18. Ashley Ogden  |  February 10th, 2011 at 8:38 am

  I think that it is true that China is missing some of the ten criteria mentioned as well as some other important factors needed to create a their own Silicon Valley. First of all, it is even hard in the US to create a Silicon Valley (hence, we only have one). I liked the comment on quantity versus quality. They have way more people than the US, so they should be giving out way more degrees; that does not mean that they are smarter. An important thing that was pointed out is that Chinese students want to be educated in the US, because our schools are better. Another important detail is that America fosters individual thinking, creativity, and critical thinking. These are important factors in developing innovation.
  China does not have the right mix yet to be as innovative as the US, but I think we have learned that anything is possible in China. In my opinion, China should be more worried about developing technology to solve their vast domestic environmental problems than they should be worried about being the global leader in technology.

• 19. Tyler Sereno  |  February 13th, 2011 at 3:36 pm

  I believe that the evidence provided by these blog posts and articles tells us that China will not develop the next Silicon Valley in the near future. I enjoyed reading the blog post “Why China Won’t Rule Tech.” It did a great job of showing the flaws in Ray Kwong’s explanations of how China will produce the next Silicon Valley.

  I found the ten criteria required to produce the next Silicon Valley to be very insightful. They really put into perspective the challenges faced when trying to achieve this. I think that maybe some day China could produce a place similar to Silicon Valley. But they lack the requirements to develop the next Silicon Valley at this point in time. I am excited to visit Shenzhen on our trip to China since it was listed as one of the ten places in China that could be the next Silicon Valley.

• 20. Will Moeller  |  February 13th, 2011 at 4:30 pm

  My first thought after mulling over the topic and the previous postings is to add the idea of the Solow Growth Model. I’ve said this before and I’ll repeat myself - economic growth is a function of capital, labor, technology and time. While China may not have a technological hub now, in the long run, it will have to. It may not produce the same kind of products Silicon Valley does, but it will innovate. In my opinion, the Solow Growth Model is economics’ equivalent to gravity. (How does that line from Radiohead’s “Fake Plastic Trees” go…gravity always wins?) In the end the question of when China becomes technologically dominant will not matter, just know that it will.

  Of Paul Graham’s list of ten factors explaining why startups condense in American, number 9 piques my interest. He states that America has venture funding. Sure we do. America has venture funding because it has people and institutions with excess money to toss around. But let’s not forget about one of the largest institutions with new money to toss around, the Chinese Sovereign Wealth Fund (the Chinese government). Two points I’d like to make here. First, simply, China does not need to invest in its own Silicon Valley necessarily if it can just use its venture money to develop technology and innovation in the United States. It gets the handsome return and ownership of the innovation. It doesn’t matter where the innovation takes place. Second, if China wanted to create jobs by using its sovereign wealth fund to create government-run laboratories, it could. The money being used to buy U.S. debt now could be deployed within China to develop the startup scene.

  Granted, the time might not be right now for China to start a Silicon Valley rival. It might not be efficient at doing so. However, it does seem clear that if China commits to doing something, it can. It seems to me that it’s less of a matter of the right startup environment and more of a matter of committing to the development of a Silicon Valley rival.

• 21. Tara Millard  |  February 13th, 2011 at 8:44 pm

  Silicon Valley has come to represent creativity, diversity and excellence. It is not a location that is easily replicated. In may in fact have such a complex and unique culture that an attempt to replicate its components may lead to limited success. Silicon Valley is made what it is by each and every individual that works in these thriving companies. For an employee to succeed they must be innovative and endlessly creative…… and not to mention, Brilliant. Silicon Valley is circular in its success in that it relies upon the best individuals in order to thrive, and the best individuals are drawn to Silicon Valley to spend a life long career.

  I would have to agree with the blog post “Silicon Valley In China — Not Any Time Soon, Well Maybe.” Although China is currently incapable of starting of even housing a successful model of Silicon Valley, the success that China has seen as of late leaves me to believe that more surprises may be on their way. China is not a place to underestimate. The haste with which change has taken place in China leads me to expect the unexpected. A Silicon Valley in China may be more than a distant thought.

• 22. Amanda Podesta  |  February 14th, 2011 at 8:31 pm

  I believe that the next Silicon valley could be anywhere…
  Back in the day, innovation centres were close to human and natural resources. Innovations were something material (e.g. trains, planes, automobiles). Nowadays more often than not, innovation is an idea. The conditions necessary to incubate an idea are much more abstract… because the work/research is just as abstract. If you are an academic or researcher, it should all come with a tagline on their business card: “Have degree. Will travel.”
  So my advice to China? Make inviting conditions (e.g. government research projects, grant programs, enterprise zones). Build it and they will come.

• 23. Anthony Kallioinen  |  February 18th, 2011 at 3:17 pm

  I understand the question of ‘when/if China’s will develop its version of the Silicon Valley?’ but I don’t like the question. China has a different skill set at this point in their country’s development than those of a leading high tech industry. I think the real question is: ‘what is a comparable version of the Silicon Valley for China?’ The Silicon Valley in the US has lead the world in the high tech industry and is a huge economic generator. This is the industry that we have performed the best in. In China, the industry that they are currently dominating is manufacturing. Much of the world cannot compete in low cost manufacturing anymore in light of the overwhelming efficiency of the Chinese industry. This is their Silicon Valley – the Rust Belt.

  If this blog is more to get at, ‘Can the Chinese compete in the tech industry?’ then I would say that they are still pretty far behind. Dan’s post (why China won’t rule tech) was reinforcing the idea of China’s education being more along the lines of quantity of graduates over the quality of graduates when compared to the United States. I think this is hinting at a larger component at work: the creative and entrepreneurial talents of people. The Silicon Valley really started with the research and development of California’s university system, transferring it into intellectual property and ultimately moving it into a business by the students and their mentors. The infusion of venture capital made this a possibility and turned this area of the world into a tech hot spot. The real question is ‘can China can compete on an imagination level?’ Over and over I hear the argument that China’s education system requires youth to remember details and regurgitate information as opposed to developing skills in analytical thinking and complex problem solving. The ‘duke report’ Dan references really illustrated this point: “According to a 2005 McKinsey and Company Global Institute labor study, only about 10 percent of China’s engineers, and 25 percent of India’s, can compete in the global market.” China may have numbers, as is a competitive advantage of China, but Silicon Valley conditions require more than numbers.

• 24. Sarah Weinzapfel  |  February 20th, 2011 at 9:43 am

  Before I read these articles, my answer to this question was “why not?” I now have a better sense of why it might be a little more difficult to recreate in China or anywhere for that matter. Regarding the first article, “Why China Won’t Rule Tech,” I sensed a little hostility. Then again, the points he was arguing against were pretty ridiculous. I too thought they were quite irrelevant.

  I have to say that my thoughts coincide a little more with the “Silicon Valley in China–Not Anytime Soon” article. I think it’s harder than I initially thought, but I still think maybe. Definitely not short term, but I think it’s a possibility in the long run. However, the ten criteria for recreating Silicon Valley seemed pretty relevant and necessary when you think about it and quite a few things would have to change in China for them to accomplish something like the Silicon Valley.

  I think their government is too strict and their country is far too poor to sustain something like that. I also think that Anderson, quoted in the first article, has a good point about their education system and how they are producing math and science whizzes out of high school, but don’t have the resources to foster and grow that knowledge and talent.

• 25. Tim Easton  |  February 24th, 2011 at 7:06 pm

  This is an interesting question that I have never really thought about before. Why is it that there is no other Silicon Valley, and is that hard to recreate? As for the next Silicon Valley being in China, I would have to agree with the article “Silicon Valley in China - Not Any Time Soon, Well Maybe”. If you look at the current situation in China, you would say that it is extremely unlikely that they will be able to create the next Silicon Valley in the near future. However, you have to be careful not to put anything outside the reach of China since they have come such a far way in such a short amount of time. China definitely has the potential, and the quantity of engineers, but they are at a different stage in their development as a country. In my opinion the major thing that China is lacking is the creativity that people in Silicon Valley have. Another difference is the fearlessness that American’s have to take their idea and run with it. People put everything on the line in order to become successful, and I don’t hear about that in China. It could just be me, not being exposed to many stories of Chinese entrepreneurs, but I believe that it is also part of the culture. The two things that are holding China back from having the next Silicon Valley are the creativity and fearlessness of its people.

• 26. Kyle R.  |  March 3rd, 2011 at 11:13 am

  I agree with the posts in that China cannot sustain a Silicon Valley anytime in the near future. The lifestyle and attitude in the Silicon Valley seems to be completely different from that of China. This is solely based on what I have heard, read, and studied. Granted I have never been to China, and I may be completely wrong in making this assumption. I found some of the facts from Ray Kwong’s article, “Why China Will Rule Tech” significantly flawed, some in which were pointed out in the “Why China Won’t Rule Tech” article. If China’s economy continues to grow like it has, I do believe that someday we will in fact see something similar to a Silicon Valley, but not for a while. It seems like the majority of Chinese people are ambitious and looking to make money to get/stay out of poverty. I don’t get the sense that there is much importance placed upon thought leadership and innovation within China technology sector. In order to create something similar to the Silicon Valley, China’s mindset will have to change.

• 27. Matt Streiter  |  March 5th, 2011 at 4:34 pm

  First and foremost I feel that the first article in this blog is ridiculous. You can’t compare the number of degrees awarded when the degrees themselves aren’t of equal quality. Second, Who cares if the leader are engineers? They are not going to be sitting in a lab constructing the next great advancement in technology. I feel like articles like that are full of statements pulled out of context and used erroneously to support an argument that it was not intended to support.

  To answer the question of do I think China could have their own Silicon Valley, Possibly. If China was ever to get to that point it would be in the very distant future. The Chinese people are focused on increasing their standard of living and the educated are focusing on maximizing their profits in there current window of opportunity while a artificially low standard of living exists among the general population. If and when the cheap labor era comes to an end I believe that China will become more of industry leaders that could lead to the creation of their own silicon valley.

  The refinement of their education system and perhaps an incentive to create inventions will kick start the possibility of such a complex area to exist. I would think with the instability in the government and loose copyright laws would partially diminish the incentive for Chinese people to create and come public with their work. So in addition to the education advancement some legal protection would also entice those to make the big leap forward

• 28. Ben Raymond  |  March 7th, 2011 at 9:41 pm

  I don’t see the factors that went into creating Silicon Valley being replicated in China. Not for awhile at least. The China Herald blog did an excellent job defining what it takes to build a Silicon Valley and how China doesn’t fit those specifications. Silicon Valley is deeply embedded with the American lifestyle and China is currently much, much different. I’m not saying that large scale innovation in China will never occur, just not at the scale of Silicon Valley and not in the near future. I think that China has that potential down the road but there needs to be some major changes made in order to accommodate something like Silicon Valley. But maybe China doesn’t want a Silicon Valley. With the resources they have, I don’t see why they couldn’t develop an innovation center that better fits their society. It may have a much different feel than Silicon Valley but just because they don’t have the ingredients to replicate SV doesn’t mean they won’t come up with something that serves their innovation needs.

• 29. Chris F.  |  March 13th, 2011 at 5:10 am

  I have to agree with the articles about why China will not have a Silicon Valley any time soon due to some of the reasons listed. However, I do think that something could develop later on in China’s development future. Since China is still an emerging world power, there are more pressing issues that the country and its government has to tackle before they have the means to develop a high tech think-tank like Silicon Valley is to the United States. But eventually, I think change will come and China could compete with Silicon Valley and the likes. This is because I believe there are plenty of talented people in China who could be integral in creating the technological innovation. However the opportunity is not there since people are more focused in bringing their families into the middle class.

  I think the environment in China to be innovative and thinking outside the box is stifling to creative thought. I’m basing this on the cultural background of the Chinese where they have the mentality to work as a collective whole to better society as a whole. This is reinforced by government policies. However, I believe change will happen that will allow free thought to innovate on new ideas. When that time comes, all of those Chinese citizens with the discretionary wealth will have the opportunity to explore new ideas and markets. When they do, there will be plenty of people with the expertise and talent that could be tapped into. With the Chinese work mentality, they could achieve many good things.

• 30. J Vail  |  March 14th, 2011 at 12:44 pm

  I never thought that China would have a silicon valley, but at the same time, the term is really hard to quantify – I feel that it would never be duplicated but something similar or something even more efficient could be developed. Either way, the first article was interesting and well written (he really burned Ray even though he referenced him as a friend). One thing that I really liked was the zeal behind America something that China can’t easily replicate, and I think all of the points he made behind his arguments were valid. It also is a good point to make that even though there are so many gifted science and math students in China, from a business perspective it means very little unless you are truly interested in the field to motivate. Also, I get the point now on why immigration is such a benefit for the US, but I never really thought about how few non-Chinese natives immigrate to China. Altogether, an engaging and informative short piece.

• 31. JP Salazar  |  March 18th, 2011 at 12:12 am

  t seems to me that China has so many other domestic issues that it needs to face before it can begin to really develop their technology markets into a place like Silicon Valley. I do not think that China, in its current situation, has the ability to foster the kind of innovation and growth needed to spark the rise of a place like Silicon Valley. It was the unique combination of the people, the time, and the place that turned a small area in the Bay into the leader of technology innovation. It was a community of people with similar interests and ideas that came together and changed how technology works.
  There are two main barriers I see in China developing their own Silicon Valley. First, the level of competition and the ease that information can be shared reduce the effectiveness of a central location for technological growth. During the 80’s and 90’s, there was no other place like Silicon Valley in the world. Everything being studied and developed at that time was new and no one else was trying to do the same. But now, technological advances are taking place all across the world and any new center for technological growth has to compete with the established ones. Also, because technology allows for information to be shared around the world instantaneously, there is no longer a need for a central location for the sharing of ideas. Technology development no longer has to occur in one place because the process can now be completed by different people from around the world. Second, I do not believe that China has the ability to foster the large scale innovation and creativity needed from a group of thinkers to create a place like the Silicon Valley. I could be way off on this, but I believe that the kind of innovative and outside the box thinking that occurred in the Silicon Valley 20 years ago was a result of the social and economic situation at the time. It is hard for me to believe that the people of China, with such different backgrounds in these two areas, have the ability right now to create their own Silicon Valley. It is not to say that they are incapable. Far from it. In fact I believe that if it was a major priority, China could easily surpass the US as a technology leader in a very short amount of time. However, I believe that the people as well as the government have other nationalistic issues that are more important to them at this time then developing as a technology leader.

• 32. Omar Pradhan  |  March 18th, 2011 at 1:38 pm

  I couldn’t agree more with the statement: “In the end, if I had to choose a country that will be the leader in technology…I would be looking more for the country that welcomes diversity…in its population/people and in its ideas over a country with a government that degrees innovation will start happening now.” China, so far as I have been able to gather from the readings assigned, is still lagging behind. Central planning cannot spur innovation. Our nation has and will continue to lead on innovation to the extent that we continue to promote R&D investments (grants) within our proven institutions of higher learning (i.e. those that advance a collaborative convergence of pluralistic, multi-disciplinary thinkers). Until China rethinks how their institutions of higher education are structured, I agree that we need not worry…a Chinese Silicon Valley emerging to rival our US Silicon Valley is currently an institutional / ideological impossibility.

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