Dow Chemical CEO suggests more entrepreneurship in China

BEIJING -- US high-tech firm Dow Chemical's CEO on Tuesday advised China to further encourage entrepreneurship and innovation to climb up the global value chain.

Andrew Liveris told Xinhua that China's transition from low-end to medium and high manufacturing was the right strategy, but to this end, China needed to make more efforts.

He said the government should put in place the right policies, regulations and standards to encourage entrepreneurial innovation to invest in technology that will allow China to move up the value chain.

"You can't go from driving a slow car in a slow lane to a fast car in a fast lane without changing lanes," said Liveris, adding that China should go "crawl, walk, run."

Although the transition is a gradual process, the senior executive said China must move fast as the world was changing so rapidly.

In his view, China has plenty of "brains" and it should organize the "ecosystem" to encourage them to be entrepreneurial. He said: "This is China's opportunity."

"To be entrepreneurial, you have to be taught that there is no boundary to taking a risk as long as you are safe and ethical," said Liveris.

Dow Chemical expressed willingness to assist China's transition to an advanced manufacturing economy as it would help its business.

"We are very suited to providing technology answers to environmental protection, food safety, clean water, sustainable urbanization and green technology," said Liveris.

Amid the current economic slowdown, China is turning to mass entrepreneurship and innovation to boost market vitality.

Premier Li Keqiang said earlier this month that the government will continue to "remove roadblocks and pave the way" for entrepreneurship.