Innovation is critical to development

"Innovative Development" is the first of the Five Major Development Concepts, President Xi Jinping's guiding strategy to transform China's economy. Innovation occupies the top spot because it signals that China's leaders are enhancing the role of reform. Reform requires change, change requires doing things differently, and doing things differently requires innovation.

In investigating the Five Concepts for Closer to China with R.L. Kuhn, my weekly program on CCTV News (Sundays at 9:30 am and 9:30 pm), I looked for two kinds of innovation - in science and technology, as well as in management and processes.

I found both kinds of innovation at Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, or COMAC, which is developing the country's large commercial aircraft, beginning with the C919. Building such aircraft requires sophisticated technology, systems and processes, and innovation is essential for all three.