National Bureau of Statistics: In 2025, the country invested a total of 3928.82 billion yuan in research and experimental development (R&D), an increase of 8.2% over the same period last year

The Zhitong Finance App learned that on October 16, the National Bureau of Statistics issued a statistical bulletin on national science and technology investment in 2025. In 2025, the country invested a total of 3928.82 billion yuan in research and experimental development (R&D), an increase of 296.13 billion yuan over the previous year, an increase of 8.2%; the intensity of investment in research and experimental development (R&D) (ratio to GDP) was 2.80%, an increase of 0.11 percentage points over the previous year. Based on the full-time workload of research and experimental development (R&D) personnel, the per capita expenditure was 487,000 yuan, an increase of 70,000 yuan over the previous year.

The original text is as follows:

National Science and Technology Investment Statistics Bulletin 2025

National Bureau of Statistics Ministry of Science and Technology Ministry of Finance

October 16, 2026

In 2025, the national investment in research and experimental development (R&D) continued to grow steadily. The investment intensity increased rapidly, the share of basic research funding increased steadily, and the country's financial expenditure on science and technology continued to increase.

I. Funding for research and experimental development (R&D)

In 2025, the country invested a total of 3928.82 billion yuan in research and experimental development (R&D), an increase of 296.13 billion yuan over the previous year, an increase of 8.2%; the intensity of investment in research and experimental development (R&D) (ratio to GDP) was 2.80%, an increase of 0.11 percentage points over the previous year. Based on the full-time workload of research and experimental development (R&D) personnel, the per capita expenditure was 487,000 yuan, an increase of 70,000 yuan over the previous year.

By type of activity, the country spent 283.46 billion yuan on basic research, an increase of 13.3% over the previous year; funding for applied research was 444.16 billion yuan, an increase of 3.2%; and funding for experimental development was 320120 billion yuan, an increase of 8.4%. The share of basic research funding was 7.21%, an increase of 0.33 percentage points over the previous year; the share of funding for applied research and experimental development was 11.3% and 81.5%, respectively.

By activity group, various enterprises spent 3039.44 billion yuan on research and experimental development (R&D), an increase of 7.7% over the previous year; government research institutions spent 457.23 billion yuan, an increase of 8.1%; colleges and universities spent 30.73 billion yuan, an increase of 11.1%; and other entities spent 91.42 billion yuan, an increase of 11.7%. Enterprises, government research institutes, and universities accounted for 77.4%, 11.6%, and 8.7%, respectively.

By industry sector, research and experimental development (R&D) funding for large-scale high-tech manufacturing industries was 843.07 billion yuan, an increase of 9.9% over the previous year; the investment intensity (ratio to operating income) was 3.38%, an increase of 0.03 percentage points over the previous year. Among industrial enterprises above scale, there are 8 major industry categories that have invested more than 100 billion yuan in research and experimental development (R&D), accounting for 69.4% of the research and experimental development (R&D) expenses of industrial enterprises above the entire scale, an increase of 1.2 percentage points over the previous year.

By region, there are 6 provinces (municipalities directly under the Central Government) that have invested more than 200 billion yuan in research and experimental development (R&D), namely Guangdong (551.04 billion yuan), Jiangsu (494.82 billion yuan), Beijing (369.61 billion yuan), Zhejiang (317.72 billion yuan), Shandong (282.57 billion yuan), and Shanghai (258.05 billion yuan). There are 7 provinces (municipalities directly under the Central Government) where the intensity of investment in research and experimental development (R&D) exceeds the national average (GDP), followed by Beijing (7.10%), Shanghai (4.55%), Guangdong (3.78%), Jiangsu (3.48%), Tianjin (3.47%), Zhejiang (3.36%), and Anhui (2.86%).

II. Status of financial expenditure on science and technology

In 2025, the national government spent 1318.45 billion yuan on science and technology, an increase of 55.53 billion yuan over the previous year, an increase of 4.4%. Among them, the central government spent 447.32 billion yuan on science and technology, accounting for 33.9% of the country's financial expenditure on science and technology; local finance spent 871.12 billion yuan on science and technology, accounting for 66.1%.

This article was edited by the National Bureau of Statistics, Zhitong Finance Editor: Chen Wenfang.