Last year, China invested CNY 300.3 billion ($39.9 billion)—an increase of 22.6%, or CNY 55.3 billion, over 2005—in R&D, according to a statement released this month by the National Bureau of Statistics, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Finance. R&D spending in 2006 represented 1.42% of the country’s GDP, a new high. Industry spent CNY 213.5 billion on R&D, government research agencies accounted for CNY 56.7 billion and institutions of higher education spent CNY 27.7 billion, contributing 71.1%, 18.9% and 9.2% to R&D spending totals, respectively. Approximately 78.0% of Chinese R&D spending went to development, while 16.8% and 5.2% funded application research and basic research, respectively.

Source: China Daily