China’s spending on research and development up 14pc in 2017 to US$279 billion, science minister says
Three-quarters of spending coming from enterprises, as China seeks to ‘enter the ranks of innovative countries’, Wan Gang says
China’s total spending on research and development is estimated to have hit 1.76 trillion yuan (US$279 billion) last year, the nation’s science minister said on Monday, a year-on-year increase of 14 per cent.
“China needs to enter the ranks of innovative countries and become a big technological innovation power by 2050,” minister Wan Gang told a media briefing.
“Basic research and frontier exploration is the big lesson that must be done now,” he said.
Based on current calculations, about 77 per cent of the spending in the year was contributed by enterprises, he said.
China ranked second in the number of international papers and citations, while leading other countries in the number of patents and patent applications, he said.
