China's R&D spending reports rapid growth in 2024

BEIJING -- China's spending in research and development (R&D) maintained rapid growth last year thanks to efforts to support technological innovation.

The total R&D expenditure exceeded 3.6 trillion yuan (about $500 billion) in 2024, up 8.3 percent year on year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Thursday. The input accounted for 2.68 percent of China's gross domestic product in 2024, up 0.1 percentage points from the previous year.

China's improved favorable policies, diversified investment landscape and stronger business participation have provided robust support for the sustained growth of R&D spending, NBS statistician Zhang Qilong said.

With the continued innovation drive, China's R&D input remains the second largest worldwide.

China's 2.68-percent R&D intensity ranked 12th among major countries in the world, higher than the average of European Union countries of 2.11 percent and approaching that of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) of 2.73 percent.

In particular, investment in basic research climbed 10.5 percent last year from 2023 to 249.7 billion yuan, representing 6.91 percent of the total R&D spending.

In recent years, China has attached great importance to basic research, making significant progress in the construction of major scientific appliances and infrastructure, with a number of original achievements in fields such as quantum technology, life science, materials science, and space science, Zhang said.

According to the Central Economic Work Conference last December, China will strengthen basic research and strive for breakthroughs in key and core technologies, with efforts to improve the financial service system, encourage more nongovernmental capital and cultivate innovative enterprises.