China pledges billion-dollar spending boost for science

China announced significant increases to its research and development budgets at the Two Sessions political meeting. The country plans to boost overall R&D expenditure by at least 7% per year through 2030 as part of its 15th five-year plan. China's R&D spending exceeded 3.9 trillion yuan last year and has grown at least 8% annually for the past five years. Additionally, the science and technology budget increased 10% to 426 billion yuan for the current year. Historically dominated by state-owned enterprises and government laboratories, China now aims to shift R&D leadership toward private companies, following the model of countries like the United States.

"China has proposed to increase its overall research and development (R&D) expenditure by at least 7% per year over the next five years, which translates to billions of extra dollars each year. This typically covers government and private-industry spending on basic research, applied research and experimental development."

"Unlike many countries, including the United States, in which private companies drive R&D, China's has so far been dominated by state-owned enterprises and government laboratories. As of 2023, the Chinese government was the world's biggest spender on R&D, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). But China wants private companies to lead its R&D over the next five years."

"Although the country's latest R&D budget proposal is the same as the target set in the 14th FYP, China's spending on science and technology in absolute numbers is rising significantly, says Steven Hai, a political economist focusing on technology innovation at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University in Suzhou, China. "Today's 7% represents an absolute annual increment far exceeding that of five years ago," he says."

Read at Nature