China and Its Market-Oriented Green Technology Innovation System: The Rationale, the Mechanisms, and the Policymaking Process

By focusing on so-called core policy “Guidelines”, this paper examines the rationale, the mechanisms, and the policymaking process behind the emergence of the green technology innovation system in China. To this end, the contradiction analysis, specific to the classical Marxist theory is employed. The contradiction analysis reveals three major contradictions that impel the system’s construction, i.e. the contradiction between public demand for quality ecological natural environment and the actual market supply; the contradiction between the long- and short-term benefits of the green technology market; and a contradiction between the supply of scientific research and demand for technology transfer. Against this backdrop, China’s major green technology innovation policies are examined, also in connection to other policies.