Higher Education and the Chinese Solar-Panel Industry: A Quintuple Helix Perspective
Date: 3rd February (Tuesday), 2026
Time: 17:00 to 18:15
Venue: RMS206, Runme Shaw Building, HKU & Zoom
Speaker: Ha Wei, Associate Professor, Peking University
Chair: Postiglione Gerard, Professor, The University of Hong Kong
Registration link: https://hkuems1.hku.hk/hkuems/ec_regform.aspx?guest=Y&UEID=104744
Abstract:
Higher education resources facilitate the formation and development of regional industrial clusters in the Chinese solar-panel industry. Using a quintuple-helix perspective, this study constructs a collaborative innovation model involving Government, Corporate, University, Startups and Finance with Chinese characteristics. Four evolutionary pathways are identified: institutional supply-driven, knowledge-to-commercialization, market selection-driven, and industrial transformation-led. Case studies of photovoltaic clusters in five Chinese cities reveal significant path diversity and regional heterogeneity, with distinct stage-specific characteristics. The findings demonstrate that indigenous innovation fundamentally supports system operation, while collaborative interaction and functional complementarity among actors are essential for enhancing regional innovation capabilities.
Key words: Triple Helix; Quintuple-Helix; Regional Innovation System; Collaborative Innovation; Photovoltaic Industry
About the speaker:
Professor Ha Wei is the Associate Dean and Associate Professor of Education Policy and Management at the Graduate School of Education, Peking University. He is the also Co-Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Educational Development. He specializes in the effects of higher education on regional innovation ecosystems. He received his BA and MA from Peking University and his Ph.D. from Harvard Kennedy School. Prior to joining PKU, he served as policy specialist and senior policy specialist with UNDP and UNICEF in the US and in Africa for almost seven years.