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Top1. Introduction
Maker activity first appeared in the United States. “Makers” are a group of people who are enthusiastic about creating, designing and manufacturing. They are willing, energetic, enthusiastic and capable. Maker activities need places, so “makerspace” was born. The Maker Magazine in the United States defined makerspace as: “a real physical space, the open and exchange fablab, makelab and techshop with the function of processing workshop and studio. Artists, designers, masters of software and hardware and almost anyone, can use the machine and material to put the idea into reality” (Hongli Zhang & Fenfang Cao,2015). The maker activity soon developed into a nationwide maker movement, which is valued by various fields, such as government, schools and enterprises. In 2012, president Obama launched a government program that would allow more than 1,000 U.S. schools over the next four years to create makerspaces with digital manufacturing tools such as 3D printers and laser-cutting machines. In the same year, president Obama signed the Promotion of Entrepreneurship Financing Act and the Employment Act to promote the emergence of more public financing platforms and provide financial support for mass innovation and creative inventions (LiliMa,2014). Thus, the American maker movement became known to the world.
The introduction of the maker movement magically fits the “mass entrepreneurship and innovation” of the national economic development policy put forward by the Chinese government. In September 2014, Premier Keqiang Li made a clear call for “mass entrepreneurship and innovation”. In February 2015, the State Council Executive Meeting clearly formulated a series of policies to support the development of makerspaces, which created a good policy environment and development platform for innovation and entrepreneurship at the national level. In March 2015, “mass entrepreneurship and innovation” was written into the Chinese government work report. Under the guidance of the national macroeconomic policy, all kinds of makerspaces have sprung up, showing a flourishing developmental trend, which has played a positive role in promoting and leading innovation and supporting entrepreneurship.