Abstract:Ancient China was a producer of inventions. The Chinese not only were the first to grow such crops as rice and tea plant, but also invented silk, porcelain, mechanical clocks, and so on. In about the eleventh century, Chinese technologies basically satisfied the demands from the pre-modern agricultural society. In the 1860s, China started to switch technology from ancient to modern, i.e., to introduce and imitate Western technology and to construct modern industry. Before the 1930s, China developed engineering science and education. The 1950s witnessed the construction of R&D institutions and the industrial system, and the reform of the education system. In 1978, China began to implement the reform and opening-up policy which embraced the outside world. Since then, industrial upgrades have been enabled by the introduction of foreign technology, and endeavours have been made to innovate products. In the 1990s, China deemed innovation as the key to developing technology and economy. In November 2012, Chinese Communist Party Central Committee decided to implement the strategy of innovation-driven development. Facing various challenges, the Chinese should have a clinical view of technology gaps with the developed countries, and make a rational layout and required reforms to effectively enhance the innovation ability.