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China resumes R&D push with record US$441b outlay in 2021
- Beijing has put ‘new breakthroughs in original innovation’ back on the fast track after Covid-19 dip, National Bureau of Statistics official tells People’s Daily
- Areas receiving the biggest support included ‘space exploration, nuclear physics, quantum science and biological engineering’
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China spent a record 2.79 trillion yuan (US$441.3 billion) on research and development last year, an increase of more than 14 per cent over 2020 – when nationwide lockdowns to contain the coronavirus pandemic saw the country post its lowest GDP growth in decades.
The R&D spending growth rate in 2021 was more than 40 per cent higher than in the previous year, China’s National Bureau of Statistics said in releasing the data.
Beijing’s financial support for scientific research and technological development had dropped in 2020 as the country battled Covid-19 disruptions, though businesses kept the R&D growth rate ticking over to reach 10 per cent, the bureau said.
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However, the budget for basic science research projects that depended heavily on government support were mostly frozen or cut, according to some scientists involved in such ventures.
Zhang Qilong, a statistician at the bureau’s society, science and culture department, said government funding for basic science increased more than 15 per cent in 2021. This suggested that Beijing’s support for “new breakthroughs in original innovation” was back on the fast track, he told Chinese state media.
The areas receiving the biggest support included “space exploration, nuclear physics, quantum science and biological engineering”, Zhang told People’s Daily in a report published on Wednesday.
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