More investment in R&D required to create new drivers for growth

IN THE GOVERNMENT WORK REPORT he delivered to the 13th National People’s Congress in Beijing on Monday, Premier Li Keqiang said that the input into research and development has grown 11 percent on average annually over the past five years, making China the world’s second-largest investor in innovation, and that science and technology’s contribution rate to the country’s economic growth has increased from 52.2 percent to 57.5 percent. Beijing News comments:

The huge input has materialized into a series of breakthroughs in science and technology that have formed new drivers for growth and upgraded the economic structure.

China is at a crucial stage in its transition from being the world’s workshop to becoming a strong manufacturing power. Thus, almost all plans and initiatives regarding industrial upgrading and restructuring pushed by the government entail progress in science and technology.

More important, China is paying special attention to the industrialization of its research achievements, and enhancing the business environment to encourage mass entrepreneurship and innovation.

Although China is second only to the United States in terms of the size of its R&D inputs, it still lags behind the developed countries in many fields, such as the efficiency of commercializing its research achievements, the evaluation system for talents and the management of its research funds.

China should attach more significance to fundamental research, which accounts for about 5 percent of the total input in R&D, while it is around 20 percent in developed countries.

History shows that after exhausting the demographic dividend and large-scale infrastructure investment, a country must seek lasting driving forces and vitality from science and technology innovations.

Increasing its input into R&D is therefore necessary for China to move up the global value chain.