Recently, the National Bureau of Statistics, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Finance jointly released the "Statistical Bulletin on National Science and Technology Funding Investment in 2022", which was interpreted by Zhang Qilong, a statistician of the Social Science and Culture Department of the National Bureau of Statistics.

1. The total amount of research and experimental development (R&D) funds has reached a new level, and the investment intensity continues to increase.

According to data from the "Communique ", China's total R&D investment exceeded 3 trillion in 2022, reaching 3.07829 billion yuan, reaching a new level; an increase of 10.1% over the previous year, continuing the rapid growth momentum. Calculated at constant prices, R&D funding increased by 7.7% over the previous year, which is higher than the goal of the "14th Five-Year Plan" development plan of "an average annual growth in R&D funding for the whole society of more than 7%." It took 8 years for my country's R&D funding to increase from 1 trillion to 2 trillion, and only 4 years to increase from 2 trillion to 3 trillion. This fully reflects that in recent years, my country has taken innovation as the first driving force and accelerated the implementation of the innovation-driven development strategy. Effectiveness.

From the perspective of investment intensity, China's R&D investment intensity (ratio of R&D expenditure to GDP) in 2022 will be 2.54%, an increase of 0.11 percentage points from the previous year [1], which is the second highest increase in the past 10 years. The level of R&D investment intensity ranks 13th in the world, between the average levels of the EU (2.2%) and OECD countries (2.7%)[2], and the gap with OECD countries has further narrowed.

2. The dominant position of enterprises has been further consolidated, and investment in key areas has continued to expand.

Enterprises, government-affiliated research institutions and universities are the three major execution entities of my country's R&D activities. In 2022, the R&D expenditures of the three major entities were 2,387.86 billion yuan, 381.44 billion yuan and 241.24 billion yuan respectively, an increase of 11.0%, 2.6% and 10.6% respectively over the previous year. Among them, enterprises contributed 84.0% to the growth of R&D funds, an increase of 4.6 percentage points from the previous year. They were the main force driving the growth of R&D funds; they accounted for 77.6% of the national R&D funds, an increase of 0.7 percentage points from the previous year. The main innovation entities The position is further consolidated.

In 2022, the R&D expenditure of industrial enterprises above designated size was 1.93618 billion yuan, an increase of 10.5% over the previous year; the investment intensity (ratio to operating income, the same below) was 1.39%, an increase of 0.06 percentage points over the previous year. The intensity of R&D investment in key areas has steadily increased, creating conditions for key core technology research and improvement of industrial basic capabilities. Among the industries above designated size, the R&D funding for high-tech manufacturing was 650.77 billion yuan, with an investment intensity of 2.91%, an increase of 0.20 percentage points over the previous year; the R&D funding for the equipment manufacturing industry was 1.19355 billion yuan, with an investment intensity of 2.34%, an increase of 0.15 percentage points from the previous year. percentage points.

3. Basic research investment achieved new breakthroughs, and its proportion continued to rise.

In terms of R&D activity types, my country's basic research, applied research and experimental development funding in 2022 will be 202.35 billion yuan, 348.25 billion yuan and 2.52769 billion yuan respectively, an increase of 11.4%, 10.7% and 9.9% respectively over the previous year. Among them, basic research funding grew 1.3 percentage points faster than R&D funding and continued to maintain rapid growth; the total amount exceeded 200 billion yuan for the first time, ranking second in the world; it accounted for 6.57% of R&D funding, continuing its upward trend. The contribution of colleges and universities and government-affiliated research institutions to the growth of basic research funding reached 44.8% and 38.3% respectively, and they are the main force in carrying out basic research activities in our country.

4. Fiscal science and technology expenditures have grown steadily, and innovation support policies have become more diversified.

According to national fiscal final accounts data, national fiscal science and technology expenditure in 2022 will be 1,112.84 billion yuan, an increase of 36.17 billion yuan or 3.4% over the previous year. Among them, central and local fiscal science and technology expenditures were 380.34 billion yuan and 732.50 billion yuan respectively, accounting for 34.2% and 65.8% of the national fiscal science and technology expenditures respectively. Fiscal science and technology expenditures have maintained steady growth, effectively ensuring funding needs for basic research and key core technology research.

As the intensity of preferential tax policies such as R&D super deductions continues to increase, the government’s methods of supporting scientific and technological innovation have become more diversified. In 2022, the number of designated enterprises that enjoy the preferential tax deduction and exemption for R&D expenses and the tax exemption for high-tech enterprises will increase by 16.3% and 11.7% respectively compared with the previous year, effectively motivating enterprises to increase investment in R&D. Entrepreneur questionnaire surveys show that in 2022, designated enterprises will have preferential tax policies for super deduction of R&D expenses, preferential income tax policies for high-tech enterprises, accelerated depreciation policies for special instruments and equipment for corporate R&D activities, and exemption from value-added tax and income tax reduction for technology transfer and technology development income. The average recognition rate of five innovation capital support policies, including preferential policies and financial support-related policies, reached 83.4%, and the policy system to encourage and support enterprise innovation is more complete.

5. The central and eastern regions lead the growth rate, and the innovation head effect is prominent.

In 2022, the R&D expenditures in my country's eastern, central, western and northeastern regions[3] will be 2023.75 billion yuan, 555.76 billion yuan, 396.18 billion yuan and 102.60 billion yuan respectively, an increase of 10.4%, 11.9%, 7.6% and 4.8% respectively over the previous year. %, with the eastern and central regions clearly leading the growth rate. R&D funding in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and Yangtze River Delta regions was 426.09 billion yuan and 938.63 billion yuan respectively, an increase of 7.9% and 11.4% respectively; R&D funding in the Yangtze River Economic Belt reached 1.47889 billion yuan, an increase of 10.4%, and has maintained double-digit growth in recent years. .

In 2022, there will be 12 provinces (municipalities) with R&D expenditures exceeding 100 billion yuan, one more than the previous year. There are 7 provinces (cities) with R&D investment intensity exceeding the national average, one more than the previous year, followed by Beijing (6.83%), Shanghai (4.44%), Tianjin (3.49%), Guangdong (3.42%), Jiangsu (3.12%), Zhejiang (3.11%) and Anhui (2.56%).

Generally speaking, in the face of complex and severe domestic and international environments in 2022, under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core, the whole country insists on leading high-quality economic and social development with scientific and technological innovation, and the total R&D funding and basic research investment Both reached a new level. In the next stage, on the one hand, we must further improve the diversified investment mechanism for R&D funds, increase financial support, expand the effectiveness of other policies such as tax exemptions and exemptions for R&D expenditures, improve financial support systems such as direct financing and guidance funds, and encourage local governments to continue to increase R&D investment. On the other hand, we must focus on precise support for key technologies and key areas, continue to increase investment in basic research and achievement transformation, and strive to improve the efficiency of fund utilization.

Note:

[1] According to the final verified GDP data in 2021, the R&D investment intensity in 2021 has been revised to 2.43%.

[2] The data comes from the official website database of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) https://data.oecd.org. The latest data is 2021.

[3] The eastern region includes Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Shandong, Guangdong and Hainan; the central region includes Shanxi, Anhui, Jiangxi, Henan, Hubei and Hunan; the western region includes Inner Mongolia, Guangxi, Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Tibet, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia and Xinjiang; the Northeast region includes Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang.