China's R&D spending reaches $549.7 billion in 2025, up 61% from 2020
China's research and development (R&D) expenditure reached 549.7 billion U.S. dollars in 2025, marking a 61.0% increase from 2020, according to a comprehensive report published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on June 2, 2026. The R&D intensity—R&D spending as a share of GDP—stood at 2.80%, up 0.44 percentage points from 2020 and exceeding the average level of OECD member countries for the first time.
The report, part of a series on achievements during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), highlighted significant progress across infrastructure, innovation, trade, and living standards.
In transportation, China had built the world's largest high-speed rail network, with 48,000 km of high-speed railways in operation by 2024, accounting for over 70% of the global total. Port cargo throughput reached 17.6 billion tonnes in 2024, and container throughput hit 330 million TEUs, both ranking first globally. Express delivery volume surged from 83.4 billion parcels in 2020 to 199.0 billion parcels in 2025, a compound annual growth rate of 19.0% during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, maintaining the world's top position for 12 consecutive years.
Mobile communications infrastructure also advanced. In 2025, China's mobile phone penetration rate reached 130.0 per 100 persons, up from 112.9 in 2020 and 22.5 units above the global average of 107.5. The number of 5G mobile phone users stood at 1.204 billion, accounting for 65.9% of all mobile users—2.1 times the global average.
The innovation ecosystem strengthened significantly. China's R&D personnel full-time equivalent reached 7.57 million person-years in 2024, the largest in the world. The number of highly cited researchers reached 1,405, about one-fifth of the global total and second only to the United States. The Global Innovation Index ranking improved to 10th place in 2025, up from 14th in 2020, with 24 innovation clusters among the global top 100—a number that led the U.S. (22) and Germany (7) for three consecutive years.
Major scientific and technological breakthroughs included China becoming the first country to hold over 5 million domestic valid invention patents by the end of 2025, and leading the world in PCT international patent applications for six consecutive years. Achievements in space exploration, such as the Tiangong space station entering routine operation and the Chang'e-6 mission returning the first samples from the far side of the Moon, alongside the commercial operation of the world's first fourth-generation nuclear power plant, were also highlighted.
China's trade position remained robust. In 2024, total merchandise trade reached 6.2 trillion U.S. dollars, up 32.3% from 2020 and accounting for 12.5% of the global share, ranking first worldwide. Services trade exceeded 1 trillion U.S. dollars for the first time in 2024, reaching 1.1 trillion dollars. Foreign direct investment inflows were 116.2 billion dollars in 2024, ranking fourth globally, while outward direct investment reached 162.8 billion dollars, ranking third.
The Belt and Road Initiative saw deepened cooperation. By late October 2025, the China-Europe Railway Express had operated 120,000 trips, delivering goods valued at nearly 500 billion dollars and reaching 232 cities in 26 European countries and over 100 cities in 11 Asian countries.
On living standards, China's gross national income (GNI) per capita reached 13,660 U.S. dollars in 2024, up 27.2% from 2020, placing the country first among upper-middle-income economies. The Human Development Index (HDI) rose to 0.797 in 2023, approaching the very high human development threshold of 0.800. The gross enrollment ratio for higher education reached 76.9% in 2024, far above the world average.
Source: National Bureau of Statistics of China. Original: https://www.stats.gov.cn/sj/sjjd/202606/t20260602_1963862.html