Now spending nearly half a billion dollars a day on research and development, China accounts for 13 per cent of the world’s total scientific research output compared to just five per cent a decade ago.

But hype, generalisation and only partial awareness of the domestic political, economic and cultural context mean that discussion of this topic can obscure as much as it illuminates. How will innovation change China, and how will China change innovation?

China’s Absorptive State, is an important new resource for those wishing to understand the growth and nature of Chinese research and innovation and explores how well positioned the UK is to benefit from these new developments.

This project is a partnership with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and Research Councils UK.

In this video Professor Peter Williamson (Cambridge Judge Business School, and author of Dragons at your door: how Chinese cost innovation is disrupting the rules of global competition) offers his thoughts on what characteristics China's environment for innovation and how the UK can take advantage of China's growing economy.