https://www.stats.gov.cn/zt_18555/ztfx/xzg75njjshfzcj/202409/t20240913_1956439.html
According to the “Series Report on the Achievements of Economic and Social Development in the 75th Year of New China” by the National Bureau of Statistics of China, the number of R&D workers in China in full-time equivalent has increased 10-fold since 1991, surpassing the United States in 2013. In 2023, the number will reach 7.24 million per year, maintaining the world’s number one for the 11th consecutive year.
According to statistics, China’s R&D expenses in 2023 will be 3.3278 trillion yuan (1 yuan = about 20 yen), 233 times higher than in 1991, with an average annual growth rate of 18.6%. Since the reform of the science and technology funding system in 1985, China’s domestic financial science and technology expenditure has been steadily increasing, reaching 500 billion yuan in 2012, 1 trillion yuan in 2019, and 1.1 trillion yuan in 2022.
In addition, the average annual growth rate of basic research expenditure from 1996 to 2023 was 18.7%, and China has achieved several important achievements in fields such as quantum technology, life science, material science, and space science, and is at the world’s top level in manned space flight and lunar exploration technology. As of the end of 2023, the number of valid invention patents in China was 4.015 million, making it the first country in the world to exceed 4 million.
Scientific and technological progress requires the support of a maturing science and technology innovation system. The Chinese Academy of Sciences was established in 1949, and by around 1966, the number of scientific research institutes in China had increased to more than 1,700. Furthermore, since the 18th Party Congress, a collaborative innovation system has been formed, centered on technology-based companies, scientific research institutes, universities, etc.