Interview: China's advancement in technological innovation "impressive," says Norwegian scholar

This photo taken on March 27, 2023 shows a fountain square in front of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) International Conference Center in Boao, south China's Hainan Province. (Xinhua/Fan Yuqing)

The scholar mentioned three comparative advantages that make China stand out in technological innovation.

"One comparative advantage is a really large home market that gives (China) a chance to try different things that can easily scale up," he said. "The second thing is the Chinese people are willing to work really hard."

"The third thing is that I think the Chinese people in general are open to new things. So if a company comes up with a new idea, people are more willing to try it here rather than being stuck in a tradition that is more typical (elsewhere)," he added.

BOAO, China, March 30 (Xinhua) -- China has been playing a leading role in promoting global technological collaboration and the strides it has made in technological innovation in recent years are "impressive," a senior Norwegian scholar has said.

"China's green Belt and Road Initiative has made some really important steps forward, such as helping countries develop light train system, helping the Philippines and Thailand develop green energy production," Carl Fey, a professor of strategy at BI Norwegian Business School, told Xinhua on the sidelines of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2023.

The scholar mentioned three comparative advantages that make China a standout in technological innovation.

"One comparative advantage is a really large home market that gives (China) a chance to try different things that can easily scale up," he said. "The second thing is the Chinese people are willing to work really hard."

"The third thing is that I think the Chinese people in general are open to new things. So if a company comes up with a new idea, people are more willing to try it here rather than being stuck in a tradition that is more typical (elsewhere)," he added.

This photo taken on Feb. 27, 2023 shows a public phone and a smart screen inside a digital pavilion that was converted from a conventional telephone booth in east China's Shanghai. (Xinhua/Chen Aiping)

Fey also mentioned China's enormous innovation potential, quoting the 2022 edition of the Global Innovation Index published by the World Intellectual Property Organization, in which China ranks 11th among 132 world economies.

He said there are increasingly more opportunities for European countries like Norway to collaborate with China in green technologies.

"We need to collaborate together. My home country Norway, where I'm living now, has a lot of advances in green technology. This is a great area where China and Norway can collaborate," he said.

Norway has developed strong green technologies in alternative energy, shipbuilding and various industries related to that, Fey said. "So I think there's a lot of good possibility for collaboration."

The scholar called on all countries, developing or developed ones, to work together in technological innovation, since whatever happens to the area affects the world as a whole.

"Collaboration is important because we often see problems differently because of the environment we are in. For example, China is a very dynamic environment. So maybe in China, companies can develop technologies and strategies that work better in a dynamic context," he said.

"We need to do a number of different things to help facilitate more cooperation," he added, noting that all countries should be supported to follow international rules such as those of the World Trade Organization in the process.