China to Overtake US in R&D Spending by Year-End, Top American Science Body Says
Xu Wei
DATE:  Jun 05 2018
/ SOURCE:  Yicai
China to Overtake US in R&D Spending by Year-End, Top American Science Body Says China to Overtake US in R&D Spending by Year-End, Top American Science Body Says

(Yicai Global) June 5 -- China will surpass the US in terms of research and development funding by the end of this year, according to a US governmental organization, while the Asian country's heavy spending shows in innovation on new technologies including green energy vehicles and computer learning.

China has sharply increased its R&D spending in recent years, Russia's Sputnik news agency reported, citing data from the US National Science Board. The Asian country added its investment in innovation by 18 percent each year, compared with the US equivalent of 4 percent increase.

R&D spending is a key factor for innovation, the report said. The US spent USD496 billion on the improvement of goods and services in 2016, making up 26 percent of the global total of USD1.9 trillion, followed by China with a 5-percentage points lower equivalent at USD409 billion.

"China needs to enter the ranks of innovative countries and become a big technological innovation power by 2050," Minister of Science and Technology Wan Gang said at a press briefing in February.

China has invested heavily in nuclear and renewable energy, high-speed trains and electric vehicles and established dozens of high-tech industrial parks and incubators to promote technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics and big data.

The value of the global high-tech market was at USD1.6 trillion in 2016, with the US leading at a 31-percent market share, while China came second making up 24 percent of the whole. In R&D, China spends as much as 85 percents of the funds on the development part and gives only 5 percents to basic research. In comparison, the US allocates 64 percents to the development and 17 percents to basic research.

China surpassed the US in terms of the number of publications in the fields of science and technology in 2016. Some 1.7 million students graduated with a bachelor's degree in 'hard sciences' including physics, chemistry, biology in the Asian country between 2000 and 2014.

Editor: Emmi Laine

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Keywords:   US,Science & Technology,R&D,US National Science Board,Made In China 2025,Innovation