The Kaipher Editorial Team 
China has announced that its research and development (R&D) spending reached 3.6 trillion yuan ($507 billion) in 2024, marking a 48 percent increase since 2020 as the 14th Five-Year Plan concludes. Minister of Science and Technology Yin Hejun highlighted that R&D intensity rose to 2.68 percent of GDP, surpassing the European Union average and making China the world’s second-largest R&D investor (Xinhua).
Scientific Research Breakthroughs Gain Global Recognition
China’s scientific output has surged in both quality and impact. During the 14th Five-Year Plan, Chinese researchers produced roughly one-third of the world’s highly cited papers, maintaining the country’s second-place global ranking for four consecutive years. In 2024, 1,405 Chinese scientists were listed among the world’s highly cited researchers—a 50 percent jump from 2021—accounting for 20 percent of the global total.
Key achievements include novel programmable methods to manipulate large chromosomal DNA fragments and the first detection of young magmatic activity on the Moon’s far side. The Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) also discovered over 1,000 pulsars, exceeding the combined tally of all other nations (CGTN).
Expanding International Partnerships
China has deepened its global scientific ties, forging cooperation agreements with more than 160 countries and regions and joining over 200 international organizations. It has participated in over 60 mega-science projects and launched domestic initiatives like the Deep-time Digital Earth program.
Under the Belt and Road Initiative, China established more than 70 joint laboratories with nearly 50 countries and created 10 international technology transfer platforms across Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Recent milestones include the opening of the China-SCO Sci-Tech Innovation Cooperation Center in Qingdao and collaborations with European partners on quantum research and space missions (ECNS).
Corporate Innovation Strengthens Economic Foundation
By the end of 2024, the number of high-tech enterprises in China topped 500,000, an 83 percent rise since 2020. Mainland Chinese firms accounted for 26.2 percent of the world’s top 2,000 industrial R&D investors, with 524 companies making the list. Basic research funding surged to 249.7 billion yuan, more than 70 percent above 2020 levels.
Minister Yin emphasized that “China will continue promoting the development of new quality productive forces through sci-tech innovation,” underscoring the integration of scientific breakthroughs with industrial applications as the bedrock of high-quality growth. Over the five-year period, value-added output of large-scale high-tech manufacturing rose by 42 percent, reflecting the economic impact of corporate research and development (ECNS).
