The Booming Development of China’s High Technology Manufacturing over the Past Five Years

National Bureau of Statistics of China 2014-12-16 10:04 Print| Large| Medium| Small

The Third National Economic Census has revealed that the size of China’s high technology manufacturing expanded continuously, the R&D expenditures increased sharply, the innovation capacity improved steadily and the proportion of sales revenue of new products went up gradually.

I. High Technology Manufacturing Industry Boomed.

1. The size of the industry expanded. The number of enterprises grew steadily. By the end of 2013, there were 26,894 high technology manufacturing enterprises above designated size in China, an increase of 1,077 compared with that in 2008. High technology manufacturing enterprises took up 7.8 percent of all manufacturing enterprises above designated size, up by 1.3 percentage points compared with that in 2008. The enterprises absorbed more employees. In 2013, there were 12.937 million persons employed by high technology manufacturing enterprises, up by 36.9 percent compared with that in 2008; the number of persons employed by high technology manufacturing enterprises took up 15.1 percent of persons employed by all manufacturing enterprises, up by 2.9 percentage points compared with that in 2008. The revenue from principal activities grew rapidly. In 2013, the revenue from principal activities of high technology manufacturing enterprises stood at 11,604.89 billion yuan, up by 108.2 percent; the revenue from principal activities of high technology manufacturing enterprises took up 12.8 percent of that of all manufacturing enterprises, up by 0.8 percentage point compared with that in 2008.

2. The economic efficiency increased fast. In 2013, the total profits of China’s high technology manufacturing industry was 723.37 billion yuan, up by 165.5 percent compared with that in 2008, 11.5 percentage points higher than the average growth of other manufacturing industries; the total profits of high technology manufacturing industry took up 13.1 percent of those of the manufacturing industry, 0.5 percentage point higher than that in 2008. The ratio of the total profits to the revenue from principal activities of high technology manufacturing was 6.2 percent, 1.3 percentage points higher than that in 2008, or 0.1 percentage point higher than the average of other manufacturing industries.

3. The Innovation Capacity Improved Steadily. The R&D investment went up rapidly. In 2013, China’s high technology manufacturing above designated size invested 203.43 billion yuan in R&D, 178.2 percent higher than that in 2008, 8.7 percentage points higher than the average growth of other manufacturing industries. The ratio between the R&D investment and the revenue from principal activities of high technology manufacturing was 1.75 percent, 0.44 percentage point higher than that in 2008, 1 percentage point higher than the average of other manufacturing industries. The output improved steadily. In 2013, there were 74 thousand invention patents accepted from high technology manufacturing, 179 percent higher than that in 2008; the sales revenue of new products reached 3.1 trillion yuan, an increase of 127 percent compared with that in 2008.

II. The R&D Expenditures of Industrial Enterprises Increased Continuously.

1. The R&D expenditures increased fast. In 2013, the R&D expenditures of industrial enterprises above designated size in China reached 831.84 billion yuan, an increase of 170.7 percent compared with that in 2008. The ratio between the R&D expenditures and the revenue from principal activities was 0.8 percent, 0.23 percentage point higher than that in 2008. The R&D expenditures of industrial enterprises above designated size took up 70.2 percent of all R&D expenditures of China, 3.6 percentage points higher than that in 2008. The dominant role of industrial enterprises in the R&D expenditures was further strengthened.

2. The leading role of high technology manufacturing industry was notable. In 2013, of all industrial enterprises above designated size, each of the 7 industrial divisions invested over 50 billion yuan in R&D with such industrial divisions as the manufacturing of computer, communication and other electronic equipment. The 7 industrial sections invested 510.17 billion yuan in R&D, an increase of 151.6 percent compared with that in 2008. These industrial divisions with large R&D expenditures played a significant leading role in the independent innovation of industrial enterprises in China.

3. Regional cluster effect was further highlighted. In 2013, of industrial enterprises above designated size, the R&D expenditure in Jiangsu, Guangdong and Shandong topped the list, reaching 123.96 billion yuan, 123.75 billion yuan and 105.28 billion yuan respectively. The R&D expenditure of enterprises in these three regions accounted for 42.4 percent of the total, up 6.8 percentage points compared with that of 2008.

4．The dominant status of domestic-funded enterprises was consolidated.

The R&D expenditure of domestic-funded enterprises reached 630.33 billion yuan, accounting for 75.8 percent of the total, up 2.6 percentage points compared with that of 2008. From 2008 to 2013, domestic-funded enterprises contributed to 77.3 percent of the growth of R&D expenditure for enterprises above designated size, playing a significant role in upgrading the independent innovation capacity of industrial enterprises above designated size.

III. Sales Revenue of New Products in Industrial Enterprises Enjoyed a Rapid Growth.

As one of important R&D achievements of enterprises, sales revenue of new products in industrial enterprises above designated size enjoyed a relatively high increase in 2013. The proportion of sales revenue of new products to the revenue of principal activities witnessed a growth.

In 2013, for industrial enterprises above designated size, sales revenue of new products totaled 12,846.07 billion yuan, up by 125.3 percent over 2008. Sales revenue for new products accounted for 12.4 percent of the revenue of principal activities, up 1.8 percentage points compared with 2008.

In terms of the status of registration, sales of new products in domestic-funded enterprises accounted for the largest portion and foreign-funded enterprises enjoyed the largest portion of sales revenue of new products to the revenue from principal activities. In 2013, for domestic-funded enterprises, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan funded enterprises and foreign-funded enterprises, the sales revenue of new products was 8,374.21 billion yuan, 1,402.17 billion yuan and 3,069.69 billion yuan respectively, up by 141.7 percent, 130.9 percent and 88.2 percent over 2008; the proportion of sales revenue of new products to the revenue from principal activities was 10.5 percent, 15.8 percent and 19.9 percent respectively, witnessing an increase of 9.8 percent, 12.1 percent and 16.9 percent as compared with in 2008.

In terms of the industrial divisions of the national economy, the sales revenue of new products exceeded 1 trillion yuan for each of the three manufacturing industries, including the manufacturing of computer, communication devices and other electronic devices, manufacturing of automobile and manufacturing of electrical machinery and equipment. The sales revenue of new products in these three industries totaled 5,310.81 billion yuan, an increase of 111.6 percent over 2008, accounting for 41.3 percent of all industrial enterprises above designated size. Sales revenue of new products accounted for 26.6 percent of the revenue of principal activities, up 0.4 percentage point compared with 2008.