China design development based on trend-driven innovation strategy under the belt and road initiative

Abstract

In 2013, Chinese President Xi successively put forward the major Initiative of the construction of the “Silk Road Economic Belt” and the “21st Century Maritime Silk Road”. Since then, the Initiative attracted the resonance among the whole world, and up to now, more than 100 countries and international organizations have taken practical actions to support and participate in this Initiative. On this background, trend-driven innovation approach was adopted in this study to make bold assumptions about the future changes and trends in China’s design industry. The research procedure includes the following six steps: 1. Understand why it is now to do the trend research and set the economic expectations; 2. Scan trends and build the trend framework. 3. Focus on some trends and find out the consumer trend radar. 4. Generate consumer trend canvas. 5. Build the first yard. 6. Based on the former research, culture the trend department and trend-driven ecosystems. Based on the above research, three conclusions can be drawn: 1. Co-design innovation in Central Asia is rising; 2. Innovative cases and events with Asia cultural background will surge; 3. Sustainable design is the benchmark for innovative design across countries.