By Feng Fei, Wang Zhonghong and Song Zifeng, Research Department of Industrial Economy, the DRC

Research Report No 240, 2013

Abstract:

New industries, technologies, industrial trends, and modes have emerged as global technological innovation got more active after the global financial crisis, producing a new industrial and technological revolution. We visited Germany, France and Spain recently to get a further look at the status of the new industrial revolution. We visited the Federal Economic Affairs and Energy Department, the Volkswagen HQ and the smart building and factory of Schneider Electric, in Germany, the Paris smart community and the Renault electric car test field in France, and a Barcelona smart city project, in Spain. A new industrial revolution is taking place in Europe surprisingly fast in some projects.

To catch up with the new industrial revolution and its developments, China should increase its strategic deployment, institutional reforms, application orientations, and cooperation and innovation while investing in smart infrastructure and intangible assets for an economic transformation.