In the past, China blatantly copied ideas and products from the West. Over the past decade, however, the energy and intelligence powering China’s catch-up “imitation economy” have begun to spill over into greenfield spaces not yet seen in the West. Key factors driving China’s “creation economy” include new wealth and China’s love affair with mobile technology. Today China has thousands of nimble upstarts in an ecosystem with valuations and access to capital that rivals Silicon Valley.

[Programming descriptions are generated by participants and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of SXSW.]