We have a special investigation from Professor Ed, who takes us on a journey through the history and development of innovation policy and venture capital in China. We begin with the massive government Torch Program that, starting in the 1980s, set about engineering a national innovation sector on a scale never seen before. Then in the 1990s we see China begin liberalizing its markets, opening up for different forms of investment both domestic and international. But doing so in its own unique way – not in the style of structural adjustment shocks but as carefully controlled market reforms.

Some stuff we reference:

••• Steve Blank’s series on VC in China: https://steveblank.com/2013/04/10/china-the-sleeper-awakens/

••• OECD report on China’s innovation policy: https://www.oecd.org/science/inno/39177453.pdf

••• CIGI report on China’s Experience in Building a Venture Capital Sector: https://www.cigionline.org/static/documents/documents/no.248_0.pdf

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Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)