China R&D expenditure hits 4.07 trillion yuan in 2025, 2.91% of GDP
China's total Research & Development (R&D) expenditure surpassed 4 trillion yuan in 2025, reaching 4.07 trillion yuan and accounting for 2.91% of GDP, according to the latest report from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). This marks a significant increase from 2.41% in 2020, highlighting the nation's continued commitment to innovation-driven development during the 14th Five-Year Plan period.
The number of R&D personnel per 10,000 employed persons rose to 102.6 person-years in 2025, up 33.1 from 2020. Science and technology talent resources have become more abundant, with 1.084 million graduate students in 2024, a 48.7% increase over 2020. Among these, 43.3% of project leaders in national key R&D programs were under 45 years old. China's highly cited scientists grew from 935 in 2021 to 1,406 in 2025, raising the global share from 14.2% to 19.7%.
Basic research spending grew rapidly from 146.7 billion yuan in 2020 to 277.8 billion yuan in 2025, an average annual growth of 13.6%, 3.6 percentage points faster than total R&D growth. Basic research's share of total R&D exceeded 7% for the first time in 2025, up 1.07 percentage points from 2020.
Enterprises played a dominant role, contributing over 75% of total R&D spending growth. Enterprise R&D expenditure is estimated to exceed 3 trillion yuan in 2025, accounting for 77% of the national total, approaching levels seen in major developed economies. The number of high-tech enterprises exceeded 500,000 in 2024, an increase of 83% from 2020. By end-2025, China had cultivated over 17,600 specialized "little giant" enterprises and more than 1,800 manufacturing champion enterprises. Among 1,523 global unicorn companies, 343 were from China, ranking second worldwide.
Scientific output also surged. In 2023, China ranked first globally for papers in SCI and EI, and second in CPCI. In 2024, China published 155,000 high-level international journal papers, accounting for 39.2% of the world total, with over 1.01 million citations – both figures ranking first. Patent grants reached 972,000 invention patents in 2025, 31.4% of all patents, up 16.8 percentage points from 2020. By end-2025, China's valid domestic invention patents totaled 5.32 million, the first country to exceed 5 million. High-value invention patents per 10,000 population reached 16, up 9.7 from 2020.
Major breakthroughs included the "Zu Chongzhi-3" quantum computer, Jiaming neutrino experiment (measuring accuracy 1.5 times better than the best international level), the Tianhe space station, Chang'e-6 moon sample return, artificial starch synthesis, and chemical induction of cell reprogramming. In key industries, integrated circuit output rose from 261.4 billion units in 2020 to 484.3 billion in 2025. New energy vehicle cumulative sales exceeded 40 million units by end-2025, with production and sales ranking first globally for 11 consecutive years. AI core industry scale surpassed 1.2 trillion yuan in 2025.
Technology market activity intensified: 1.04 million contracts were signed in 2025 with a total value of 7.6 trillion yuan, averaging 7.282 million yuan per contract. Enterprise patent commercialization rate reached 54.0% in 2025, with average revenue per patent at 8.72 million yuan.
Source: National Bureau of Statistics of China. Original: https://www.stats.gov.cn/sj/sjjd/202606/t20260602_1963861.html