From workshop to the world to a budding test bed for global innovation, China is on the move. To increase productivity, China’s government is investing in research and development (R&D) and education, the foundations of innovation. But innovation is not just an official mantra. A survey of 181 senior executives in China, conducted in Chinese by the Economist Intelligence Unit and sponsored by Cisco, found that companies view innovation as critical to their success, and have clear opinions on what helps and hinders their progress. This focus on innovation has enabled China to move up eight slots in Economist Intelligence Unit's global innovation rankings, to 46th place. Although the country improved the most in the innovation stakes, in practice it still lags behind the global leaders.