Statistical Communiqué on National Expenditures on Science and Technology in 2007

National Bureau of Statistics
Ministry of Science and Technology
Ministry of Finance

January 7, 2009

In 2007, China’s total expenditures on science and technology (S&T) continued to maintain a rapid growth. The expenditures of research and development (R&D) funds have increased steadily, the input intensity reached the highest level in the history; S&T funds allocated by national finance was further consolidated, which achieved the highest level in nearly a decade in national financial expenditures.

I. Expenditure of R&D funds

In 2007, national total expenditures of R&D reached 371.02 billion yuan, jumping 70.71 billion yuan as compared with previous year, up by 23.5 percent, and with 1.49 percent of input intensity. The average R&D expenditure per capita by R&D personnel (full-time work) was 214 thousand yuan, 14 thousand yuan more than the previous year.

In terms of different types of activities, the expenditure on basic research hit 17.45 billion yuan, increased 12.0 percent year-on-year; the expenditure on applied research stood at 49.29 billion yuan, increased 0.8 percent; the expenditure on experimental development totaled 304.28 billion yuan, climbing 29.0 percent. The proportion of the above three items was 4.7, 13.3 and 82.0 percent respectively.

In terms of different executive departments, the expenditures by various types of enterprises reached 268.19 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 25.6 percent; the expenditures by research institutions subordinated to the government departments arrived at 68.79 billion yuan, grew 21.3 percent; the expenditures by universities amounted to 31.47 billion yuan, climbing 13.7 percent. The proportion of expenditures among enterprises, research institutions subordinated to the government departments, and universities was 72.3, 18.5 and 8.5 percent respectively to national total expenditures.

In terms of different sectors*, there are 8 sectors having input intensity exceeded 1.0 percent in R&D funds. The proportion of special equipment manufacturing was 1.95 percent, pharmaceutical manufacturing was 1.82 percent, general equipment industry was 1.53 percent, electric machinery and equipment manufacturing was 1.42 percent, transportation equipment manufacturing was 1.41 percent, rubber manufactures was 1.28 percent, communications equipment, computer and other electronic equipment manufacturing was 1.15 percent, and instrumentation and culture, office machinery manufacturing was 1.03 percent.

In terms of different regions, there were 12 provinces and municipalities with R&D expenditures more than 10 billion yuan, they are Beijing, Jiangsu, Guangdong, Shandong, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Liaoning, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Tianjin, Hubei and Henan, the total expenditures of these 12 provinces and municipalities reached at 299.46 billion yuan, accounting for 80.7 percent to national total expenditures. There were 7 provinces and municipalities with input intensity of R&D expenditures at or above national average level, they are Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Shaanxi, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Liaoning.

II. S&T funds allocated by finance

In 2007, S&T funds allocated by national finance amounted to 211.35 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 42.5 billion yuan, rose 25.2 percent; sharing 4.25 percent to national financial expenditure of current year, and reached the highest level since 1998.

Financial Allocation for Science and Technology in 2007

Notes:

1. The annual financial allocation for S&T in 2006 and previous fiscal year including special project funds for S&T, science spending, capital construction funds for R&D, and other primary research funds; after the classification system of government revenue and expenditure reforms in 2007, the expenditure under the “S&T”, and other features of expenditures for science and technology expenditures are included in the financial allocations for S&T; the coverage of annual financial allocations for S&T are basically the same.

2. "-" in the Table means that, as the government revenue and expenditure classification system reform, the old and new subjects are not one-one correspondence, data are not comparable, therefore the growth rate could not be calculated.

Appendix: Expenditures in R&D by Region in 2007

Explanation of key indicators

Expenditures on R&D: refers to the actual expenditures spent in basic researches, applied researches and experimental development by executive units within statistical year, including personnel fees, material costs, purchasing and construction fees of fixed assets, management fees and other expenses that actually spent in R&D activities.

Basic Research: refers to the experimental researches and theoretical researches in order to obtain new knowledge on basic theory regarding phenomenon and observed facts (exploring essence and kinetic discipline of objective thing, achieving new development and neodoxy), it does not aim at any special or specific application or use.

Applied Research: Refers to creationary researches in order to confirm the possible uses of basic research results, or exploring new methods (principal), or new approaches to be adopted so as to achieve scheduled objective, Applied research aimed at a specific purpose or goal.

Experimental development: refers to new craftwork, system and service established in order to produce new products, materials or installations, and systematic work carried out to substantially improve the existing craftwork, system and service, by utilizing the knowledge obtained from basic research, applied research and practical experiments.

*The industrial sector only includes data from large and medium-sized industrial enterprises.