By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-01-24 06:06:39 | Updated at 2025-01-24 09:35:31
3 hours ago
China’s research and development funding growth slowed for the third year in a row against the backdrop of a shaky economic recovery, but investment intensity is increasing at a steady pace as the country’s push for hi-tech self-reliance continues.
Preliminary estimates released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Thursday showed that R&D funding surpassed 3.6 trillion yuan (US$496 billion) in 2024, an 8.3 per cent rise on the previous year, as China continued to dominate global research output.
Last year’s R&D intensity – defined as the ratio of expenditure to GDP and an indicator of a country’s strength in science and technology, innovation capacity, and competitiveness – sat at a steady 2.68 per cent.
China in recent years has spearheaded more original innovation and ground-breaking research, to boost its technological self-reliance, power future growth and gain a stronger footing in its rivalry with the US.
In 2021, China saw a hefty 14.6 per cent rise in R&D expenditures from the previous year, while post-pandemic economic headwinds saw increases taper to 10.1 per cent and 8.4 per cent over the next two years, respectively.
In contrast, the growth in China’s R&D investment intensity remained fairly stable, rising from 2021’s 2.38 per cent to 2.49 per cent in 2022 and 2.58 per cent in 2023.
According to the US National Science Board, R&D investment intensity in the United States has been above 3 per cent each year since 2019, reaching a peak of 3.4 per cent in 2022. Other data indicates that it is holding on to the top spot in R&D expenditures.
