I don't think you need political rights to be innovative. Look for example at the second half of the 19th century. One of the most innovative periods in human h

I don't think you need political rights to be innovative. Look for example at the second half of the 19th century. One of the most innovative periods in human history and most of the innovation happened not in democracies. People only need the right to be innovative. I think, it's rather the other way around. When people have been innovative and new social classes with economical power have emerged, they start to seek political power as well to maintain their economical power. Of course, being innovative in a society where being innovative is not seen as a positive trait, you'll have problems regardless of what political system you are in. So I would rather try to change the cultural arena than the political. I know, that's hard and almost impossible on a short timescale but I think especially the Chinese government doesn't have a problem with working in larger timescales.