Heidelberg Asian Studies Publishing

The outbreak of the infectious coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 led the world into a global crisis. For China, however, being a pioneer in digitalization and innovation technologies, a unique opportunity showed. In an attempt to fight the outbreak, China’s government relied on its strength and pathway to a framework that supports research and development. This article argues that China’s innovation-based environment has favoured the use of new technologies in the response to Covid-19. This contribution investigates the application of these innovative technologies in the early stages of the outbreak. Based on documents of the government, newspaper articles and self-disclosures of involved companies, an explorative case study analyses which technologies were used to combat the spread of the outbreak, to improve the medical diagnosis and treatment, e.g., via AI-based image analysis or intelligent robots, and to create software tools for prediction. An outlook on China’s envisioned role in Global Health concludes this investigation.