Inventing China’s future
In 2011, China’s legislature endorsed a national five-year plan that emphasized, among other things, the need for a boost in innovation and entrepreneurship across the country. That has become a driving force behind the annual MIT-China Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum (MIT-CHIEF), organized by a number of MIT’s Chinese students. Launched in 2011, the forum aims to foster exchanges between MIT and Chinese tech entrepreneurs — and researchers and students — in hopes of advancing modernization efforts in China to solve energy, environmental, and other issues. This year, hundreds of researchers, entrepreneurs, investors, and students from China and MIT — and across the United States — attended the forum, which included panel discussions and lectures by more than 30 speakers. Panel discussion topics included recent advancements in robotics and artificial intelligence; the future of online education, including massive open online courses; managing and funding startups in China and the United States; opportunities for space technology...