1. G'Five

G'Five started as a shanzhai operation, reproducing existing phones in the market. But it quickly evolved into an innovative behemoth in its own right. The Shenzhen-based phone company has unseated larger brands like Nokia. With approximately 100 phones sold in three continents - namely Asia, Africa and South America - G'Five has evolved from a homegrown startup to become an international player capable of turning an idea into a new product within 45 days.

2. Sina Weibo

Initially seen as a copycat of the US social networking site Twitter, Sina Weibo created a name for itself by meeting the unique demands of its users. "Chinese people use Sina Weibo more like a place of self-expression than broadcasting very short messages," writes Arvind Gupta on his technology website Fast, Blind, Dense. This effectively transformed the site into a hybrid of Facebook and Twitter, adapting the latter's system but allowing lengthy postings like the former. Users love it, and this is apparent from the 300 million subscribers, who post about 86 million messages daily.

3. BYD

This innovative electric car and battery producer signifies China's shift to "indigenous innovation" in a "post-shanzhai era", Xinhua reports. Since its inception as a 20-person operation in 1995, the company has grown to employ more than 10,000 R&D members. "At first, we followed the world's leading innovators. Now we are the innovators," BYD spokesman Yi Zemin says.

4. Beijing Genomics Institute

In addition to their contributions to genome mapping research, this now international company with offices in Boston and Copenhagen offers genetic testing for the prevention and treatment of fatal diseases, including cancer. "We are revolutionaries, not followers," BGI president Wang Jian says.

5. Taobao

This online retailer started off as a competitor to eBay's expansion into the consumer-to-consumer (C2C) market in China but has since surpassed and vastly outgrown it. Taobao is currently the world's largest C2C online marketplace, with expansions into search engine and buyer-to-customer (B2C) marketplaces.

- Matt Erspamer and Darnell Gardner Jr

For China Daily