China ranks 4th in world’s research spending

BEIJING - China has spent more than 580 billion yaun (about $87 billion) in scientific research and development (R&D) in 2009, making it the world’s fourth major investor after the US, Japan and Germany, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.

The findings, published Wednesday, was part of the national R&D resources survey, held for the second time in the country, reports Xinhua.

Over three million people were involved in the country’s various scientific research and development programmes in 2009, the largest number in the world, said Cha Zhimin, deputy-director of the society and science department of NBS.

Of the 580.21 billion yaun, the government invested 135.83 billion yuan on R&D in 2009, about 4.5 times that in 2000, indicating the government’s keen interest to boost innovation, Cha said.

However, the ratio of R&D investment against GDP stood at 1.7 percent, far behind three percent in leading countries across the world, Cha said, adding that China still remained far below many developed countries in original innovations.