NBS Interpretation: China's Research and Experimental Development (R&D) Funding Investment Grew Steadily in 2025, with the Share of Basic Research Funding Rising Steadily

Title context: NBS Interpretation: China's Research and Experimental Development (R&D) Funding Investment Grew Steadily in 2025, with the Share of Basic Research Funding Rising Steadily Text: Recently, the National Bureau of Statistics, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Finance jointly released the "Statistical Bulletin on National Science and Technology Funding Investment in 2025," and Luo Qiushi, a statistician of the Department of Social, Science and Technology, and Cultural Statistics of the National Bureau of Statistics, provided an interpretation. In 2025, China's total research and experimental development (R&D) funding investment exceeded 3.9 trillion, reaching 3,928.82 billion yuan, an increase of 8.2% over the previous year, maintaining a steady growth trend. During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, China's R&D funding grew at an average annual rate of 10.0%, higher than that of the United States (8.4%), Germany (6.2%), France (4.8%), Japan (5.8%), South Korea (8.9%), and other countries, ranking among the forefront of the world's major economies. At present, China's total research and experimental development (R&D) funding ranks second in the world, second only to the United States, and is 3.4 times that of Germany (third place) and 3.5 times that of Japan (fourth place). The scale of research and experimental development (R&D) funding investment has continued to expand, providing a strong guarantee for China to accelerate the building of a strong country in science and technology. The original text is as follows: Research and Experimental Development (R&D) Funding Investment Grew Steadily, with the Share of Basic Research Funding Rising Steadily Luo Qiushi, statistician of the Department of Social, Science and Technology, and Cultural Statistics of the National Bureau of Statistics, interprets the "Statistical Bulletin on National Science and Technology Funding Investment in 2025" Recently, the National Bureau of Statistics, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Finance jointly released the "Statistical Bulletin on National Science and Technology Funding Investment in 2025," and Luo Qiushi, a statistician of the Department of Social, Science and Technology, and Cultural Statistics of the National Bureau of Statistics, provided an interpretation. I. Research and Experimental Development (R&D) Funding Grew Steadily, with Investment Intensity Exceeding the Average Level of OECD Countries In 2025, China's total research and experimental development (R&D) funding investment exceeded 3.9 trillion, reaching 3,928.82 billion yuan, an increase of 8.2% over the previous year, maintaining a steady growth trend. During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, China's R&D funding grew at an average annual rate of 10.0%, higher than that of the United States (8.4%), Germany (6.2%), France (4.8%), Japan (5.8%), South Korea (8.9%), and other countries [1], ranking among the forefront of the world's major economies. At present, China's total research and experimental development (R&D) funding ranks second in the world, second only to the United States, and is 3.4 times that of Germany (third place) and 3.5 times that of Japan (fourth place). The scale of research and experimental development (R&D) funding investment has continued to expand, providing a strong guarantee for China to accelerate the building of a strong country in science and technology. From the perspective of investment intensity, in 2025 China's research and experimental development (R&D) funding investment intensity (the ratio of R&D funding to GDP) was 2.80%, an increase of 0.11 percentage points over the previous year, continuing a relatively rapid upward trend. In 2025, China's research and experimental development (R&D) funding investment intensity ranked 12th in the world, surpassing the average level of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries (2.72%) for the first time. II. The Dominant Position of Enterprises in Innovation Is Solid, and R&D Investment by Research Institutions and Institutions of Higher Education Maintained Relatively Rapid Growth Enterprises, government-affiliated research institutions, and institutions of higher education are the three major implementing entities of China's research and experimental development activities. In 2025, the research and experimental development (R&D) funding of these three major implementing entities was 3,039.44 billion yuan, 457.23 billion yuan, and 340.73 billion yuan, respectively, increasing by 7.7%, 8.1%, and 11.1% over the previous year. The dominant position of enterprises in scientific and technological innovation is solid. Enterprise R&D funding exceeded 3 trillion yuan for the first time, accounting for 77.4% of total social R&D funding, remaining stable above 77% for four consecutive years, and contributing 73.7% to the growth of total social R&D funding, making it the main force driving China's R&D funding growth. In 2025, government-affiliated research institutions and institutions of higher education accounted for 11.6% and 8.7% of total social R&D funding, respectively, basically flat compared with the previous year. From an international comparison, the share of enterprise research and experimental development (R&D) funding in China (77.4%) is close to that of the United States (77.6%) and Japan (78.9%), and higher than that of Germany (68.2%), France (66.0%), and other EU countries. III. Investment in Basic Research Grew Relatively Rapidly, with Outstanding Contributions from National Strategic Scientific and Technological Forces By type of activity, in 2025 China's funding for basic research, applied research, and experimental development was 283.46 billion yuan, 444.16 billion yuan, and 3,201.20 billion yuan, respectively, increasing by 13.3%, 3.2%, and 8.4% over the previous year. The growth rate of basic research funding was 5.1 percentage points higher than that of R&D funding, continuing the momentum of double-digit rapid growth. During the same period, the growth rates of basic research funding in the United States, Japan, and South Korea were 4.8%, 6.6%, and 8.6%, respectively. At present, China's total basic research funding ranks second in the world, second only to the United States, and is about 2.3 times that of Japan (third place) and 2.8 times that of South Korea (fourth place). In 2025, China's basic research accounted for 7.21% of research and experimental development (R&D) funding, an increase of 0.33 percentage points over the previous year. Institutions of higher education and government-affiliated research institutions are the main forces in China's basic research activities. In 2025, their contribution rates to the growth of basic research funding were 49.9% and 38.7%, respectively. As an important component of national strategic scientific and technological forces, the construction of the national laboratory system has been continuously advanced, high-level research universities have increased investment in scientific research, and basic research investment by central-affiliated research institutions and universities increased by 18.5% in total. Enterprise investment in basic research increased by 14.2%, continuing the rapid growth momentum of recent years. IV. Fiscal Science and Technology Expenditure Grew Steadily, Strongly Guaranteeing High-Level Scientific and Technological Self-Reliance and Self-Strengthening In recent years, China has continuously strengthened its capacity for systematic tackling of key problems in the scientific and technological innovation system, focusing on guaranteeing the needs of basic research and national strategic scientific and technological tasks, and strengthening support for national strategic scientific and technological forces. According to national fiscal final account data, in 2025 national fiscal science and technology expenditure was 1,318.45 billion yuan, an increase of 55.53 billion yuan over the previous year, or 4.4%. Among this, central and local fiscal science and technology expenditure were 447.32 billion yuan and 871.12 billion yuan, respectively, accounting for 33.9% and 66.1% of national fiscal science and technology expenditure. V. The Leading Role of Science and Technology Innovation Centers Is Prominent, and the Head Effect of Innovation Is More Pronounced The leading role of regional innovation highlands is prominent. In 2025, R&D funding in China's Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, Yangtze River Delta region, and Guangdong was 536.82 billion yuan, 1,221.91 billion yuan, and 551.04 billion yuan, respectively, increasing by 10.3%, 8.7%, and 8.1% over the previous year. The combined R&D funding of the three major innovation highlands accounted for 58.8% of the national total, an increase of 0.4 percentage points over the previous year, and the leading role of international science and technology innovation centers has become more prominent. In 2025, there were 13 regions with R&D funding exceeding 100 billion yuan, one more than the previous year; there were 6 regions with R&D funding exceeding 200 billion yuan, flat compared with the previous year. There were 7 regions with R&D funding investment intensity exceeding the national average, in order: Beijing (7.10%), Shanghai (4.55%), Guangdong (3.78%), Jiangsu (3.48%), Tianjin (3.47%), Zhejiang (3.36%), and Anhui (2.86%). The total R&D funding of the seven regions accounted for 56.2% of the national total, an increase of 0.5 percentage points over the previous year, and the innovation clustering effect is more obvious. Overall, in 2025 the scale of total social research and experimental development (R&D) funding continued to expand, and the share of basic research rose relatively rapidly. The building of a strong country in science and technology has been solidly advanced, scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation have been deeply integrated, and the Beijing Dynamic Power of high-quality development has been accelerated and cultivated. In the next stage, it is necessary to continue to increase investment in social R&D funding, consolidate the supply of inclusive policies in the field of scientific and technological innovation, build a science and technology finance system compatible with scientific and technological innovation, effectively leverage the role of fiscal funding as a weather vane in science and technology investment, improve the diversified investment pattern, and provide solid guarantees for accelerating the advancement of high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-strengthening. Note: [1] The latest data reporting periods for the relevant countries and international organizations are all 2024, and the relevant country data are averages for 2021-2024. This article is edited and selected from the official website of the "National Bureau of Statistics." GMTEight editor: Feng Qiuyi.