Since the beginning of reform and opening policy, China has attracted large foreign direct investment (FDI). FDI has greatly advanced our economic development, and it's an important way of technology and knowledge spillover, although there may be some negative effects. As this spillover has great effects on independent innovation ability, FDI is an effective way to strengthen independent innovation ability.
There is also many factors to impact the independent innovation, while FDI is one of them. This paper briefly introduces the influencing factors of independent innovation, summary how FDI affects independent innovation ability by technology spillover and some other ways. To improve independent innovation ability, only technology spillover is not enough, but also needs host country's absorbing and innovation ability.
At last, this paper puts forward some suggestions to effectively improve independent innovation ability by using FDI.