Technology Transfer to China: Guidance for Businesses

While in the past, European companies came to China to take advantage of low-cost manufacturing for export, more recently, they have come to enter the Chinese domestic market, establish R&D collaborations, engage in cooperative development, take advantage of a skilled work force, establish suppliers, and develop long-term partnerships in China. In order to achieve this, they are often willing to ‘transfer’ their key technology and designs to Chinese subsidiaries of European firms, joint-venture (JV) partners, or Chinese manufacturing and service companies. China’s push for innovation and entrepreneurship has led to a significant improvement in IPR enforcement, however issues still remain, especially at the local level where IP awareness is not uniform.