So far, we have
discussed internal factors of the development of social enterprises and
social innovation. This week, I read some articles concerning the externality
of this issue – the ecosystem for social innovation in which governments should
be actively involved. I would like to depict the role of Chinese government in
social innovation for global good.
Before elaborating on Chinese government's role, I
would like, at first, discuss the reason why governments' engagement matters
for social innovation. Firstly, there are sizable segments of the social sector
where governments have become by far the biggest player, spending tens of
millions of dollars annually.[1]
This is a rather straightforward reason. To put it in another way, it is unwise
for governments to leave the arena ill-managed, because they have already
invested a huge amount of money. Secondly, governments have resources to
rigorously test and assess new models of social innovation. It is governments that
have the abilities to support and test new experiments, so that evidence-based
models with promising future are likely to scale their impact with funding from
both governments and foundations. Third, policies that can facilitate the
development of social innovation should definitely be drafted and implemented
by governments. At least, at the early stage, governments should start with
removing regulatory barriers.
A case in point to discuss Chinese government's role in global innovation is its involvement in Africa. China has long
been involved in Africa's health and medical services since 1960s. However, until
couple of years ago, the nature of China’s engagement in Africa had been
subject to massive suspicion, mainly because, under poor regulations, some
unqualified enterprises were participating in the projects so as to extract
local resources for economic benefits. Nevertheless, as a 21-st century global
superpower, Chinese government has done a lot to change the status quo and do
make some progress in generating global good in Africa.
First, in the framework
of South-South Cooperation, China began to work closely with African nations as
a partner, calling for active engagement of both sides, rather than simply a
donor country which dictates other countries and attempts to reap economic
benefits.
Second, Chinese government strongly supports research
and development of relative products which can bring huge outcomes in health in
the world. Since China has huge internal market for vaccines, drugs and medical
equipment, the manufacturing cost is considerably lower than that in the Europe
and the U.S. In this way, China can invest more in research period so as to maximize
social benefits.
Third, Chinese government has adjust regulations
concerning social innovation and removed outdated ones that have impaired the
development of non-profits. Thanks to the social-innovation-friendly ecosystem,
greater collaboration on the ground in Africa has been developed between
non-profits and enterprises. The collaboration brought health expertise,
infrastructures, medical techniques and ways of commercialization.
To sum up, Chinese
government plays the role of partner, research supporter and ecosystem builder
in China’s practice in health area in Africa.
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