According to a White Paper released by the State Council, China’s R&D spending was about 370.97 billion U.S. dollars, ranking the world’s second, and the ratio of R&D to GDP reached 2.4 percent. Nearly 1.35 million utility patent applications were filed and 441,000 were granted, and 69,000 international PCT patent applications were submitted. By the end of 2020, China had established 533 key national labs, 350 national engineering research centers, 1,636 national enterprise technology centers, 1,287 national technology enterprise incubators, and many more initiatives to promote S&T.

Xinhua news release, September 28, 2021