Government-sponsored initiatives to promote innovation

According to statements released by the State Council (China's cabinet), Beijing will continue to foster innovation through state-sponsored Research & Development (R&D) initiatives focusing on vital areas of economic development.

In February this year, Beijing began a national R&D plan to streamline a number of state-funded scientific and technological projects.

The plan consolidates state sci-tech programs focusing on key fields such as space, information technology, biotechnology, energy, telecommunications, and marine technology.

State-driven innovation has met with success in the past, with previous breakthroughs such as the supercomputer Tianhe-1 and the manned deep-sea research submersible Jiaolong.

In the coming years, China plans to implement a number of government-sponsored programs aimed at innovating through the development and large-scale application of new technologies.

The country also plans to expand existing sci-tech programs to upgrade economic efficiency.

China is in the midst of assembling its latest manned spacecraft and second space laboratory, Tiangong 2.

The space lab is scheduled to be launched in the third quarter of 2016, while the Shenzhou XI spacecraft is set to be launched in the fourth quarter of this year.

On the startup front, China has been increasing policy support for domestic startups in order to foster an environment amenable to mass entrepreneurship. By the end of 2015, there were over 2,500 incubators for high-tech businesses and over 4,000 innovation bases active throughout the country.

China will create more innovation and entrepreneurship incubators, or "makerspaces," to support economic restructuring and industrial upgrading and modernization.

There are at least 130 of these makerspaces in China situated mostly in the cities of Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, which provide assistance in company registration, bank loans, and inexpensive online services, such as patent information cloud storage.

It appears that China is on the path toward further innovation. As startups continue to proliferate across the country with help from the Chinese government, technological innovations and economic improvements are taking hold at a rapid pace.

Time will tell whether China's current progress will continue unabated.

David Chan, a Canadian freelance writer and journalist based in Toronto, Ontario, working for international media outlets. His areas of focus are international politics, culture, and the global economy.