China’s Expenditure on Research and Experimental Development (R&D) Exceeded 3.6 Trillion Yuan in 2024

According to preliminary estimates, China's total expenditure on research and experimental development (R&D) exceeded 3.6 trillion yuan in 2024, registering 3.6130 trillion yuan, an increase of 8.3 percent over the previous year;the R&Dinvestment intensity[1] reached 2.68 percent, an increase of 0.1 percentage point[2] over the previous year. The investment in basic research climbed 10.5 percent from 2023 to 249.7 billion yuan, which accounted for 6.91 percent of the total R&D expenditure, marking an increase of 0.14 percentage point.

Note:

[1] The R&D investment intensity refers to the ratio of R&D expenditure to Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

[2] According to the recent revision results of historical GDP data made by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS of China), corresponding revisions were made for the investment intensity on research and experimental development (R&D) from 2020 to 2023.

Annotations:

1. Explanatory Notes

Expenditure on Research and Experimental Development (R&D) refers to all the expenses actually incurred for the implementation of R&D activities in the reporting period. Research and Experimental Development (R&D) refers to the creative and systematic work to increase the stock of knowledge (including knowledge related to human, culture and society) and design new applications of existing knowledge. Internationally, the scale and intensity of R&D activities are usually used to reflect a country's scientific and technological strength and core competitiveness.

Basic research refers to an experimental or theoretical work that does not preset any specific application or intended use. Its main purpose is to obtain the basic principles, laws and new knowledge regarding (occurred) phenomena and observable facts. Basic research activities are an important part of R&D activities.

2. Coverage and Methods of Statistics

The statistical coverage of R&D expenditure covers government-affiliated research institutes, colleges and universities, and enterprises and institutions in industries with relatively intensive R&D activities. The preliminary amount of R&D expenditure is calculated according to the data of annual express report of science and technology comprehensive statistics.

3. Others

The data related to R&D expenditure in this report are the preliminary data in 2024, and the final annual data is expected to be published in September - October 2025.