Industrial Design Industry And Manufacturing Upgrading: Mechanism, Current Situation And Countermeasures

In 2010, China, for the first time, surpassed USA as the largest manufacturing nation in the world.But the development of manufacturing industry in China faces new challenges along with the change of market environment at home and abroad. It has caused natural resources exhausting and environmental pollution in the process of extensive economic growth. With rises in raw materials and labor cost, China’s manufacturing industry faces enormous competitive pressures.Industrial design is a process of design applied to products that are to be manufactured through techniques of mass production. It is a new subject which combining the scientific technology with the art and the market. Industrial design improves the added value of products and services, promote the upgrading of manufacturing industry along the value chain. Therefore, China attaches great importance to the industrialization of industrial design.Based on the knowledge innovation theory, industrial convergence anddesign driven innovation, the paper establishes theoretical analysis framework on the interaction between manufacturing industry and industrial design industry, and use the data of manufacturing and industrial design industryin Shanghai to examine the relationshipbetween them. The last part of the paper is policy suggestions to China’s development of industrial design industry based on the foreign experience.Theoretical analysis shows that the specialization of manufacturing industry promotes the generation of industrial design industry and the structure adjustment of manufacturing industryextendes the development of industrial design industry. In the knowledge economy era, industrial design industryplays an important role in promoting specialization of human capital and improving innovation mode, enhances innovation performance and realizes industry upgrading. Interactive development between manufacturing industry and industrial design industry will promote the increasing of added value in manufacturing link and promote upgrading of manufacturing industry from low-end of the value chain to high-end of the value chain.The empirical results indicate that the development of industrial design industry has a little effect on the upgrading of manufacturing industry due to small industry scale, less accumulation of human capital and weak capacity of technological marketization.Based on the current situation of industrial design industry in China and foreign experience, this paper suggests that we must improve the system of intellectual property rights protection, establish perfect talents training system, bulid design innovation network and optimize the environment of industrial development.