(Yicai) March 5 -- China plans to achieve more than 7 percent average annual growth in total research and development investment during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, which runs from 2026 to 2030, to ensure investment in R&D remains strong, according to the government work report submitted to the country’s top legislature for deliberation during the ongoing Two Sessions, the nation’s annual policy setting meetings.

This target takes into account the trend of total R&D spending across society as well as the capacity of enterprises to invest, and is consistent with the goals set in the previous Five-Year Plan, which ran from 2021 to 2025, Premier Li Qiang said at the opening ceremony of the Fourth Session of the 14th National People's Congress, the country’s parliament, this morning.

During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, China will push forward a number of major national science and technology projects, strengthening research in fields such as integrated circuits, artificial intelligence, biomanufacturing, quantum technology, brain-computer interfaces and nuclear fusion to provide strong support for industrial development, Minister of Science and Technology Yin Hejun said in a media briefing at the Two Sessions today.

China will also accelerate the growth of leading tech companies, channel more innovation resources to these businesses and support them in forming innovation consortia to undertake more advanced research projects, Yin said.

The country will further promote the efficient application of scientific and technological achievements, cultivate and open up more application scenarios for new technologies and products, and guide investment capital towards high-tech startups, Yin said. This will provide more financial products that help integrate technological innovation with industrial development.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China's total R&D spending expanded 10 percent a year on average. Last year, R&D intensity, which is the proportion of R&D expenditure to gross domestic product, reached 2.8 percent, an increase of 0.11 percentage point from the previous year, and surpassing the average for countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development for the first time, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Last year, spending on basic research accounted for 7.08 percent of total R&D investment, an increase of 0.2 percentage point compared to the previous year, setting a new record, according to NBS data.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Kim Taylor