3. SCIENCE AND INNOVATION: COUNTRY NOTES
CHINA
Over the past three decades China’s
economy has moved from being largely
closed to becoming a major global player.
Its innovation system has undergone considerable change and its innovation performance has improved noticeably. Gross
expenditure on R&D (GERD) increased consistently from 0.73% in 1991 to 1.5% of GDP
in 2008, the equivalent of around 13% of
total OECD GERD. Industry funded about
70% of GERD, and the government 24%.
Business expenditure on R&D (BERD) was
tively low; less than 10% of the age group
25-64 have a tertiary degree. Although
researchers numbered only 2.1 per thousand total employment in 2008, China has
as many researchers as the United States
(1.4 million), and their numbers have
grown by 9.4% a year since 2000.
1% of GDP in 2008, and increased by 27% a
year in real terms in the decade since 1997.
In 2007, business R&D was equivalent to
almost 12% of OECD BERD, up from 2%
in 1997.
Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications with
f o r e i g n c o - i nv e n t o r s r o s e t o 1 2 . 6 %
during 2005-07. While most R&D investment still flows to OECD countries, China is
increasingly considered an attractive R&D
location.
China has few triadic patents, but its
1.1% share in triadic patent families in 2008
nonetheless ranked twelfth among the
countries covered here. The publication of
scientific articles in China grew by 23.4% a
year in the decade to 2008, the fastest in
the world over the period. Although its
156 articles per million population were
below the average, China accounted in 2008
for 12% of the world’s scientific articles, up
from 3% ten years earlier and not far
behind the United States’ 16.3%.
During 2004-06 almost 15% of firms introduced new-to-market product innovations.
China has invested extensively in
human resources in science and technology (HRST) in recent years. The number of
first-stage university graduates has almost
tripled since 2000, although the 12% graduation rate is still low compared to the OECD
average. However, a substantial 39% of
China’s university graduates obtained
degrees in science and engineering in 2005.
Tertiary qualifications remain compara-
166
Innovation linkages remain weak, but
show potential. A small share of GERD was
funded from abroad (1.2%) in 2008, and
only 6% of firms collaborated on innovation
activities during 2004-06. However, Patent
The restructuring of China’s economy
and efficiency gains have made it the
world’s second largest economy after the
United States. Average annual GDP growth
was 13% between 2000 and 2008, but
slowed to 7.8% in 2009. GDP per capita was
around 14% relative to the United States
in 2009 and its urban unemployment rate
was around 4.3%.
China’s innovation policy, put forward
in the Medium- and Long-Term Plan of Science and Technology Strategic Development: 2006-2020, aims to achieve an
innovation-oriented society by 2020. Some
recent policy actions, such as increasing
export rebates, reducing property transaction taxes and interest rates, will help stimulate the domestic market. Moreover, a
large portion of the stimulus package is
expected to be invested in fixed infrastructure and human capital assets, and China’s
research budget will be pushed upward
accordingly.
OECD SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND INDUSTRY OUTLOOK 2010 © OECD 2010
3. SCIENCE AND INNOVATION: COUNTRY NOTES
Science and innovation profile of China
China
Average
GERD as % of GDP
% of population aged 25-64 with tertiary degree
BERD as % of GDP
Science and engineering degrees
as % of all new degrees
Industry financed GERD as % GDP
Triadic patents per million
population
Researchers per thousand total
employment
Scientific articles per million
population
% of GERD financed by abroad
% of firms with new-to-market product
innovations (as % of all firms)
Patents with foreign co-inventors
% of firms collaborating (as % of all firms)
1 2 http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/888932333405
%
2.5
Gross expenditure on R&D
Science and engineering degrees
As a percentage of GDP, 1991-2008
As a percentage of all new degrees, 2007
China
%
45
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OECD SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND INDUSTRY OUTLOOK 2010 © OECD 2010
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