Chinese 2006 R&D spend exceeds USD 39.9bn

China invested CNY 300.3bn (USD 39.9bn) in R&D in 2006 to augment science and technology innovation and develop a more sustainable economy, according to local media reports.

The Chinese government has set the target of investing two per cent of its GDP in R&D by 2010, as set out in the 11th Five-Year Programme for National Economic and Social Development (2006 to 2010).

R&D investment rose by an annual rate of 22.6 per cent, or CNY 55.3bn, according to a statement released by the National Bureau of Statistics, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Finance on 12 September.

R&D spending accounted for 1.4 per cent of GDP and was the highest proportion ever recorded in the region. R&D spending by companies reached the CNY 213.5bn mark and accounted for 71.1 per cent of the total.

Government research agencies spent CNY 56.7bn, while universities spent CNY 27.7bn, (18.9 and 9.2 per cent).

Approximately CNY 234.3bn, or 78 per cent of China's total R&D spending went on development work, but only 16.8 per cent went on application research and 5.2 per cent went on basic scientific research.

The pharmaceutical, special instruments, electrical machinery, general instruments, transport manufacturing, rubber and electronics sectors spent more than one per cent of their sales revenues on R&D.

The Chinese government has ring-fenced CNY 168.9bn for science and technology front, an increase of 26.5 per cent (CNY 35.4bn) on 2005. The amount was 4.2 per cent of the government's total expenditure in 2006, the highest since 1998.