China's R&D expenditure has maintained double-digit growth for many years in a row-
what does it mean for a year’s 2.4 trillion R&D investment
Our reporter Xiong Li
A few days ago, the National Bureau of Statistics, Ministry of Science and Technology, and Ministry of Finance jointly issued the "Statistical Communiqué on National Science and Technology Expenditures in 2020", showing that the total investment in research and experimental development (R&D) in my country in 2020 will exceed 2.4 trillion yuan, reaching 243.93 billion yuan. Yuan, an increase of 224.95 billion yuan over the previous year, an increase of 10.2%, continuing the double-digit growth since the 13th Five-Year Plan, but due to factors such as the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the growth rate dropped by 2.3 percentage points from the previous year.
"Because the growth rate of R&D funding is 7.2% faster than the current GDP growth rate, the R&D funding input intensity (ratio to GDP) reached 2.40%, an increase of 0.16 percentage points from the previous year, and the rate of increase hit a new high in the past 11 years." National Bureau of Statistics Introduction by Zhang Qilong, statistician of the Department of Social Sciences and Humanities.
From an international comparison, my country’s R&D funding has shown steady progress.
First, the total volume has grown steadily.
In 2020, my country’s total R&D expenditure is about 54% of that of the United States, 2.1 times that of Japan, ranking second in the world; from 2016 to 2019, my country’s average annual net increase in R&D expenditure exceeds 200 billion yuan, which is about G7 countries 60% of the total annual increase.
The second is the global leader in growth rate.
From 2016 to 2019, my country's R&D expenditure grew by an average annual rate of 11.8%, which was much faster than the United States (7.3%), Japan (0.7%) and other technological powerhouses.
The third is to speed up the intensity of catch-up.
Among the world's major economies, my country's R&D investment intensity has risen from the 16th in the world in 2016 to the 12th, which is close to the average level of OECD countries.
In terms of activity types, basic research funding has maintained growth, and its proportion has remained basically stable.
In 2020, my country's basic research funding will be 146.70 billion yuan, an increase of 9.8% over the previous year, and the growth rate has fallen by 12.7 percentage points from the previous year; it accounts for 6.01% of R&D funding, and has remained above 6% for two consecutive years.
Applied research funding was 275.72 billion yuan, an increase of 10.4%; experimental development funding was 2016.89 billion yuan, an increase of 10.2%.
Zhang Qilong said that colleges and universities and research institutions affiliated to government departments are the two main executive bodies of basic research activities in my country. Due to the impact of the epidemic, the resumption of school and work is relatively delayed, which has a certain impact on the normal development of some scientific research activities.
In 2020, the basic research funding of institutions of higher learning and government departments will be 72.48 billion yuan and 57.39 billion yuan, respectively. The contribution rate of the two to the national basic research funding growth will be reduced from 89.6% in the previous year to 50.4%, which is the growth rate of basic research. The main reason for the slowdown.
In terms of activity subjects, the pulling effect of enterprises has been further strengthened.
In 2020, corporate R&D expenditures will be 1,867.38 billion yuan, an increase of 10.4% over the previous year; it will account for 76.6% of the national R&D expenditures, and contribute 77.9% to the national growth, an increase of 0.2 and 9.4 percentage points respectively over the previous year.
Among them, the R&D expenditure of industrial enterprises above designated size was 1,527.13 billion yuan, an increase of 9.3% over the previous year; the investment intensity (ratio to operating income) was 1.41%, an increase of 0.09% over the previous year.
The intensity of R&D funding in key areas has steadily increased, creating conditions for key core technology research and industrial basic capabilities.
In terms of industry sectors, the R&D expenditure for high-tech manufacturing was 464.91 billion yuan, with an investment intensity of 2.67%, an increase of 0.26 percentage points over the previous year; the equipment manufacturing R&D expenditure was 913.03 billion yuan, with an investment intensity of 2.22%, an increase of 0.15 over the previous year percentage point.
In terms of different regions, R&D investment in the central and western regions has increased well.
In 2020, R&D expenditures in the eastern, central, and western regions of my country will be 165.173 billion yuan, 466.29 billion yuan and 321.29 billion yuan, respectively, up 9.2%, 12.0% and 12.4% over the previous year. The growth rate of the central and western regions has exceeded that of the eastern region for four consecutive years. Regions, the catching-up situation is obvious.
"Faced with the impact of the epidemic and the complex and severe domestic and foreign environment, my country's R&D funding has maintained rapid growth, which provides a strong guarantee for building a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way." Zhang Qilong said that while continuing to expand the scale of funding in the future, further optimization is needed. The structure of funding input improves the quality and efficiency of input.
The first is to optimize the investment of government funds, to further focus on the most important major needs for economic and social development, to focus on key sectors and key industries, to improve the budget management and allocation methods of funds, and to play the role of "baton".
The second is to give play to the main role of enterprises, encourage enterprises to further increase investment in original innovation and independent technological research, and strengthen industry-university-research cooperation through the establishment of innovative consortia to enhance the combat effectiveness of the "main force".
The third is to improve the diversified investment mechanism of the whole society, improve the sources of funds such as social donations, venture capital, and financial technology products, vigorously develop new research and development institutions, and create a diversified ecology.
Our reporter Xiong Li