China’s R&D spending passes US$496 billion in steady rise to hi-tech dominance

Preliminary Chinese estimates show slower expenditure increase for the third year running, but no lowering in research intensity

Reading Time:2 minutes

Early data shows that the intensity of China’s research spending continues to rise steadily, despite the economic headwinds. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 2:00pm, 24 Jan 2025Updated: 7:33pm, 24 Jan 2025

China’s growth in research and development funding slowed for the third year in a row last year amid a shaky economic recovery, but investment intensity continued to rise at a steady pace, propelled by the country’s push for hi-tech self-reliance.

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.

That growth in expenditure was down from 8.4 per cent in 2023, 10.1 per cent in 2022 and 14.6 per cent in 2021.

In contrast, 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 – was 2.68 per cent, up from 2.58 per cent in 2023, 2.49 per cent in 2022 and 2.38 per cent in 2021.

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 expenditure.

China in recent years has spearheaded more original innovation and groundbreaking research, to boost its technological self-reliance, power future growth and gain a stronger footing in its rivalry with the US.

In its annual report in April, the American Association for the Advancement of Science said the US was responsible for 32 per cent of the world’s R&D expenditure in 2021, compared to China’s 27 per cent global share.