(Yicai) Jan. 24 -- China maintained its position as the second largest spender on research and development in the world in 2024, as the country continues to put a strong emphasis on innovation, according to the latest data.

China’s total investment in R&D surged 8.3 percent last year from the year before to CNY3.6 trillion (USD497.1 billion), according to data released yesterday by the National Bureau of Statistics. This accounted for 2.68 percent of gross domestic product, which is a gain of 0.1 percentage point from 2023.

China's R&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP, also known as R&D intensity, ranks 12th among major countries worldwide, said Zhang Qilong, a statistician from the NBS. This is higher than the average level in the EU, which stands at 2.11 percent, and is close to the average level for Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development member countries which is at 2.73 percent.

Expenditure on basic research surged 10.5 percent year on year to CNY249.7 billion (USD34.5 billion), accounting for 6.9 percent of total R&D investment, which is an increase of 0.14 percentage point from 2023, according to the NBS.

In recent years, China has placed great importance on basic research, making significant strides in the building of major scientific infrastructure and achieving a series of groundbreaking results in cutting-edge fields such as quantum technology, as well as the life, material and space sciences, Zhang said.

Many Chinese local governments set their R&D expenditure targets for the year at the regional ‘Two Sessions,’ which are annual meetings of provincial-level regions' political and legislative advisory bodies, that have been held across the country since the start of the year. For example, Shanghai is aiming to spend around 4.5 percent of the first-tier city’s GDP on R&D this year, an uptick of 0.1 percentage point from the year before.

At the central government level, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology recently released a document on advancing innovation in future industries by 2025. The focus will be on three key areas, namely quantum technology, atomic-scale manufacturing and clean hydrogen, and will aim to accelerate the application of new technologies and the development of new products.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Kim Taylor