During his keynote address for SPRIE's "China 2.0" conference, Victor Koo, CEO of Youku, China's largest video hosting site, announced a new partnership with Disney to stream the entertainment giant's televions shows. Koo touted Youku's unique partnerships as one way the Chinese company is more innovative than its Western counterparts.

Presenting a keynote address at SPRIE's "China 2.0" conference in Beijing, China Mobile Research Institute's General Manager Bill Huang touted the carrier's coverage and performance as superior to that of the largest carrier in the U.S., AT&T. Huang also discussed the challenges that will be facing the mobile industry in China and elsewhere, such as the trend toward data usage exceeding voice usage.

As reported by the Wall Street Journal's Loretta Chao, one of the speakers on the e-commerce panel at "China 2.0: The Rise of a Digital Superpower," Deutsche Bank analyst Alan Hellawell gave his firm's predictions on how e-commerice in China is going to shape up. By 2013, according to Hellawell, the percentage of online transactions in the retail space will go up to 7.2%, higher than the percentage of U.S. online retail commerce. Furthermore, Hellawell noted that companies wanting a piece of this business will have to meet high service standards that Chinese consumers have grown accustomed to in a short time.

The Wall Street Journal's Loretta Chao, one of the participants at SPRIE's "China 2.0" conference in Beijing, covered the event's panel on social media for the Journal's "China Realtime Report." Panelists at the conference covered the problem of censorship and its effect on social networking, the opportunities or lack of for foreign companies wishing to compete in this space, and the possibility of Chinese homegrown innovation in social media.

Youku CEO Victor Koo, in a "China 2.0" keynote, spoke on his company's place among Internet video services competing in China, China's increasing competitive prowess and how the rapid sharing of information is changing the development of business models in China.

Cisco's Marc Musgrove blogged about Dr. Les Cottrell's participation in the kick-off session of "China 2.0," SPRIE's latest conference in Beijing. Thanks to Cisco's Telepresence Dr. Cottrell was able to talk with his pioneering partner in Beijing, the Institute of High Energy Physics' Professor Xu Rongsheng. The work of these two scientists, in concert with many others, brought China its first Internet connection in 1993.

Back in 1993, the initial connection between China and the Internet was established by Xu Rongsheng, of Beijing's Institute of High Energy Physics, and Les Cottrell, of what is now the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. Today China has more than 420 million Internet users.

Occupying the greater part of the United States Pacific coastline, California has long shared a relationship with Asia. Today, trade with China, Japan, and Korea accounts for nearly one-fourth of the state's overall $120 billion in exported goods, and an estimated one in seven California jobs is related to trade. In recognition of the crucial importance of this trade for the state's economic vitality, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and 100 business and government leaders embarked on September 9, 2010 for a six-day trade mission to Asia.

Forty representatives from the Bay Area, 40 from southern California, and 20 top government officials traveled with the mission, including leaders from California's agriculture, green technology (green tech), finance, and healthcare industries. Although intended to benefit the State of California, the trade mission also sought to leverage complimentary resources that would help nurture China's ever-growing innovation economy and to facilitate the continued exchange of people, technology, and capital. Marguerite Gong Hancock, associate director of the Stanford Program on Regions of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SPRIE), represented Stanford University and SPRIE on the delegation's visits to the cities of Shanghai and Hangzhou in China. This was the second and final Asia trade mission led by Governor Schwarzenegger during his tenure.

While in Shanghai and Hanghzou, Hancock engaged with policymakers, university officials, and private-sector business leaders. She took part in visits to several major companies, including the Hangzhou headquarters of Alibaba, China's e-commerce giant, during its "Alibaba Fest," an annual innovation conference. While there, Hancock and fellow mission members met with the company's president and learned about recent goods and services innovations, and about its global expansion strategies. In Shanghai, she visited the home of Zap-Jonway, the recently merged California electric vehicle manufacturer Zap and Shanghai electric motorcycle company Jonway. Zap-Jonway's CEO Steve Schneider plans for the company to develop electric vehicles for commercial fleets, such as taxicabs and trucks. "It is a really interesting example of California and Shanghai coming together, bringing technologies from both sides and then positioning themselves for market growth both in China and here in the United States," says Hancock.

SPRIE is at the forefront of research about factors that nurture innovation and entrepreneurship, and has engaged in the last two years in significant research about green tech. Hancock was frequently asked about how to build policies and industry strategies that foster the economic growth of green tech and about the possible implications for China, both in terms of collaboration and competition, in the shift in Silicon Valley's economy toward green tech.

During the Asia trade mission, Governor Schwarzenegger also made several important public announcements, including the news that California is going to formally bid to hold the 2020 World Expo at Moffett Field in Mountain View, which would be a major opportunity to showcase the best of the region's innovation and entrepreneurship to the world.

For more details about Governor Schwarzenegger's Asia trade mission, please visit the State of California's website.