JA Solar, one of China's biggest solar cell manufacturers, hopes to leapfrog its rivals using innovative “solar ink” manufacturing technnology from a Silicon Valley start-up.
The announcement is just the latest example of how Chinese tech firms are challenging the commonly-held prejudice in the west that Chinese businesses do not innovate.
By GEOFF NAIRN
China is a land of opportunity for business, but it is also a land of counterfeiting and intellectual property theft
Few consumers get fooled by street markets selling luxury handbags at knock-down prices. But there are many cases where it is difficult for buyers to distinguish counterfeit goods from the real thing. As more manufacturing shifts to China, businesses in the west need to learn how to value their intellectual property and protect it [...]