By LI Linxu

China's R&D intensity in 2020，expenditure on R&D as a percentage of GDP，hit a record high at 2.4 percent, up by 0.16 percentage points from the previous year, according to the latest data jointly released by the National Bureau of Statistics, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Finance.

"The increase in R&D intensity is the biggest jump in recent 11 years," said Zhang Qilong, a statistician at the bureau, adding that the country's R&D intensity has caught up with the average level of OECD.

The country's total expenditure on R&D rose 10.2 percent from a year ago to 2.439 trillion RMB, according to the data.

"The figure has continued to register double digit growth for five consecutive years, " said Zhang, adding that the country's growth rate in R&D spending leads the world.

According to Zhang, the country has become a major force driving the growth of global R&D spending, with an average net annual increment of more than 200 billion RMB during the 13th Five-Year Plan period.

Now, China's spending on R&D is about 54 percent of that of the U.S., ranking No.2 in the world.

PHOTO:VCG

Expenditure on R&D by enterprises rose 10.4 percent year-on-year to 1.867 trillion RMB, accounting for 76.6 percent of the total.

The steady increase in corporate R&D spending in key fields has created a favorable environment for making breakthroughs in key core technologies, said Zhang.

Meanwhile, R&D investment in the hi-tech manufacturing sector reached 464.9 billion RMB, or 2.67 percent of the sector's total operating revenue, up 0.26 percentage points from a year ago.

Investment in basic research reached 146.7 billion RMB, up 9.8 percent year-on-year, accounting for 6.01 percent of the R&D expenditure.

In the next five years, the country's R&D spending is expected to grow by more than 7 percent annually, according to the 14th Five-Year Plan.