Communiqué on National Expenditures on Science and Technology in 2020
Communiqué on National Expenditures on Science and Technology in 2020 [1]
National Bureau of Statistics
Ministry of Science and Technology
Ministry of Finance
September 22, 2021
In 2020, China's Research and Experimental Development (R&D) investment continued to grow rapidly, and the investment intensity kept improving. But affected by the novel coronavirus pneumonia, the investment growth rate fell, and the national financial science and technology expenditure decreased compared with the previous year.
I. Research and Experimental Development (R & D) expenditures
In 2020, China invested 2439.31 billion yuan in Research and Experimental Development (R&D), an increase of 224.95 billion yuan or 10.2 percent over the previous year, and the growth rate decreased by 2.3 percentage points over the previous year; the investment intensity of Research and Experimental Development (R&D) (ratio to GDP [2]) was 2.40 percent, an increase of 0.16 percentage point over the previous year [3]. According to the full-time workload of R&D personnel, the per capita expenditure was 466,000 yuan, an increase of 5,000 yuan over the previous year.
According to the types of activities, the national fund for basic research was 146.7 billion yuan, an increase of 9.8 percent over the previous year; applied research funds were 275.72 billion yuan, an increase of 10.4 percent; the experimental development fund was 2,016.89 billion yuan, an increase of 10.2 percent. The proportion of funds for basic research, applied research and experimental development was 6.0, 11.3 and 82.7 percent respectively.
According to the main activities, the R&D expenditure of various enterprises was 1,867.38 billion yuan, an increase of 10.4 percent over the previous year; government research institutions spent 340.88 billion yuan, an increase of 10.6 percent; the expenditure of colleges and universities was 188.25 billion yuan, an increase of 4.8 percent. Enterprises, government affiliated research institutions and colleges and universities accounted for 76.6, 14.0 and 7.7 percent respectively.
In terms of industrial sectors, the R&D expenditure of high-tech manufacturing industry was 464.91 billion yuan, and the investment intensity (ratio to operating income) was 2.67 percent, an increase of 0.26 percentage point over the previous year; the R&D expenditure of equipment manufacturing industry was 913.03 billion yuan, with an investment intensity of 2.22 percent, an increase of 0.15 percentage point over the previous year. Among industrial enterprises above designated size, there were 10 industries with R&D investment of more than 50 billion yuan, and the funds of these 10 industries account for 73.6 percent of the R&D funds of all industrial enterprises above designated size (see attached table I for details).
By region, there were eight provinces (cities) with R&D investment of more than 100 billion yuan, namely Guangdong (347.99 billion yuan), Jiangsu (300.59 billion yuan), Beijing (232.66 billion yuan), Zhejiang (185.99 billion yuan), Shandong (168.19 billion yuan), Shanghai (161.57 billion yuan), Sichuan (105.53 billion yuan) and Hubei (100.53 billion yuan). There were 7 provinces (cities) whose R&D investment intensity (ratio to regional GDP [4]) exceeded the national average, namely Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shaanxi (see attached table II for details).
II. S&T funds allocated by finance
In 2020, the national financial expenditure on science and technology reached 1,009.5 billion yuan, a decrease of 62.24 billion yuan or 5.8 percent over the previous year. Among them, the central government's expenditure on science and technology was 375.82 billion yuan, down 9.9 percent, accounting for 37.2 percent of the financial expenditure on science and technology; local fiscal expenditure on science and technology was 633.68 billion yuan, down 3.2 percent, accounting for 62.8 percent.
Financial Allocation for Science and Technology in 2020 | |||
| S&T funds allocated by finance (10,000 million yuan) | Y/Y | Ratio accounted to national financial expenditure (%) |
| | | |
Total | 10095.0 | -5.8 | —- |
Of which: Expenditures in S&T promotions | 9018.3 | -4.8 | 89.3 |
Other features of expenditures for science and technology expenditures | 1076.7 | -13.6 | 10.7 |
Of which: Central | 3758.2 | -9.9 | 37.2 |
Local | 6336.8 | -3.2 | 62.8 |
| | | |
Note: The statistical scope of financial science and technology expenditure in this table is the science and technology projects arranged by public financial expenditure.
Notes: [1] All statistical data in this bulletin do not include Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Macao Special Administrative Region and Taiwan Province. Due to rounding of some data, there are differences between total and subtotal.
[2] GDP in 2020 is the preliminary accounting data.
[3] According to the final verification data of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2019, the investment intensity of research and experimental development (R&D) funds in 2019 has been revised to 2.24 percent.
[4] The regional GDP in 2020 is the preliminary accounting data.
Appendix I Expenditures in R&D of Industrial Enterprises Above Designed Size by Sectors in 2020
Sector | Expenditures in R&D (100 million yuan) | Intensity of R&D Investment (%) |
| | |
Total | 15271.3 | 1.41 |
Mining and Quarrying | 294.8 | 0.73 |
Mining and Washing of Coal | 120.1 | 0.58 |
Extraction of Petroleum and Natural Gas | 80.1 | 1.20 |
Mining of Ferrous Metal Ores | 18.3 | 0.44 |
Mining of Non-Ferrous Metal Ores | 22.6 | 0.82 |
Mining and Processing of Nonmetal Ores | 20.3 | 0.55 |
Mining Support Service Activities | 33.4 | 1.58 |
Manufacturing | 14783.8 | 1.54 |
Processing of Food from Agricultural Products | 276.6 | 0.57 |
Manufacture of Foods | 157.3 | 0.81 |
Manufacture of Wines, Beverage and Refined Tea | 89.7 | 0.61 |
Manufacture of Cigarettes and Tobacco | 28.0 | 0.25 |
Manufacture of Textile | 231.4 | 0.99 |
Manufacture of Textile Wearing Apparel and Ornament | 105.8 | 0.76 |
Manufacture of Leather, Fur, Feather and Its Products | 90.3 | 0.89 |
Processing of Timbers, Manufacture of Wood, Bamboo, Rattan, Palm, and Straw Products | 67.3 | 0.78 |
Manufacture of Furniture | 90.7 | 1.28 |
Manufacture of Paper and Paper Products | 136.6 | 1.04 |
Printing, Reproduction of Recording Media | 93.6 | 1.41 |
Manufacture of Articles for Culture, Education, Artwork, Sport and Entertainment Activity | 101.5 | 0.83 |
Petroleum, coal and other Fuel Manufacturing | 189.6 | 0.45 |
Manufacture of Chemical Raw Material and Chemical Products | 797.2 | 1.25 |
Manufacture of Medicines | 784.6 | 3.13 |
Manufacture of Chemical Fibers | 132.4 | 1.66 |
Manufacture of Rubber and Plastics Products | 444.8 | 1.74 |
Manufacture of Non-Metallic Mineral Products | 513.1 | 0.88 |
Manufacture and Processing of Ferrous Metals | 799.3 | 1.09 |
Manufacture and Processing of Non-Ferrous Metals | 418.8 | 0.77 |
Manufacture of Fabricated Metal Products | 561.9 | 1.44 |
Manufacture of General-Purpose Machinery | 977.9 | 2.38 |
Manufacture of Special-Purpose Machinery | 966.0 | 2.85 |
Manufacture of Motor Vehicles | 1363.4 | 1.67 |
Manufacture of Railway Locomotives, Building of Ships and Boats, Manufacture of Air and Spacecrafts and Other Transportation Equipment | 485.2 | 3.13 |
Manufacture of Electrical Machinery and Equipment | 1567.1 | 2.26 |
Manufacture of Computer, Communication Equipment and Other Electronic Equipment | 2915.2 | 2.35 |
Manufacture of Measuring Instrument and Meter | 293.7 | 3.59 |
Other Manufacturing | 48.1 | 1.98 |
Waste Recycling and Recovery | 38.4 | 0.65 |
Repair of Fabricated Metal Products, Machinery and Equipment | 18.7 | 1.28 |
Production and Distribution of Electricity, Heat, Gas and Water | 192.7 | 0.24 |
Production and Supply of Electric Power and Heat Power | 151.8 | 0.22 |
Production and Distribution of Gas | 23.6 | 0.25 |
Production and Distribution of Water | 17.2 | 0.48 |
| |
Appendix II Expenditures in R&D by Region in 2020 | ||
Region | Expenditures in R&D (100 million yuan) | Input intensity of R&D funds (%) |
| | |
National Total | 24393.1 | 2.40 |
| | |
Beijing | 2326.6 | 6.44 |
Tianjin | 485.0 | 3.44 |
Hebei | 634.4 | 1.75 |
Shanxi | 211.1 | 1.20 |
Inner Mongolia | 161.1 | 0.93 |
| | |
Liaoning | 549.0 | 2.19 |
Jilin | 159.5 | 1.30 |
Heilongjiang | 173.2 | 1.26 |
| | |
Shanghai | 1615.7 | 4.17 |
Jiangsu | 3005.9 | 2.93 |
Zhejiang | 1859.9 | 2.88 |
Anhui | 883.2 | 2.28 |
Fujian | 842.4 | 1.92 |
Jiangxi | 430.7 | 1.68 |
Shandong | 1681.9 | 2.30 |
| | |
Henan | 901.3 | 1.64 |
Hubei | 1005.3 | 2.31 |
Hunan | 898.7 | 2.15 |
Guangdong | 3479.9 | 3.14 |
Guangxi | 173.2 | 0.78 |
Hainan | 36.6 | 0.66 |
| | |
Chongqing | 526.8 | 2.11 |
Sichuan | 1055.3 | 2.17 |
Guizhou | 161.7 | 0.91 |
Yunnan | 246.0 | 1.00 |
Xizang | 4.4 | 0.23 |
| | |
Shanxi | 632.3 | 2.42 |
Gansu | 109.6 | 1.22 |
Qinghai | 21.3 | 0.71 |
Ningxia | 59.6 | 1.52 |
Xinjiang | 61.6 | 0.45 |
| | |
Annotations:
1. Explanatory Notes on Main Statistical Indicators
Expenditures on Research and Development (R&D): refers to the actual expenditures spent in basic researches, applied researches and experimental development by the whole society 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 empirical or theoretical research aiming at obtaining new knowledge on the fundamental principles regarding phenomena or observable facts to reveal the intrinsic nature and underlying laws and to acquire new discoveries or new theories. Basic research takes no specific or designated application as the aim of the research.
Applied Research refers to creative research aiming at obtaining new knowledge on a specific objective or target. Purpose of the applied research is to identify the possible uses of results from basic research, or to explore new (fundamental) methods or new approaches.
Experimental Development refer to systematic activities aiming at using the knowledge from basic and applied researches or from practical experience to develop new products, materials and equipment, to establish new production process, systems and services, or to make substantial improvement on the existing products, process or services.
2. Statistical Coverage
R&D expenditure statistics covered all enterprises and institutions with R&D activities in the whole society, including research institutions subordinated to the government departments, universities, and enterprises and institutions in the industries with relatively intensive R&D activities (including agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, fishery, mining, manufacturing, production and supply of electricity, gas and water, construction, transportation, storage and postal industries, information transmission, software and information technical services, finance, rent and business services, scientific research and technical services, water conservancy, environment, and public facilities management industry, health and social affairs, culture, sports and entertainment, etc.).
3. Survey Methods
The survey methods of research and experimental development (R & D) funds are as follows: industrial enterprises above designated scale, special and first-class construction enterprises, service industries above designed size (including transportation, warehousing and postal services, information transmission, software and information technology services, leasing and business services, scientific research and technical services, water conservancy, environmental and public facilities management, health and social work). Enterprises in cultural, sports and entertainment industries, research institutions affiliated to the government, colleges and universities are obtained by comprehensive survey, industrial enterprises under the scale are obtained by sampling survey, enterprises and institutions in other industries are obtained by means of key survey and data calculation of the second national R & D resources inventory.