Total expenditure and intensity
The release reports R&D spending of 3,928.82 billion yuan, growth of 8.2 percent and an intensity of 2.80 percent of GDP. These measures describe resources devoted to research. A monetary total, a growth rate and a share of national output provide different perspectives on that input; none alone measures scientific quality or the adoption of research results.
Types of research activity
The communiqué distinguishes basic research, applied research and experimental development. Basic research is reported at 283.46 billion yuan, or 7.21 percent of total R&D expenditure. The definitions separate work directed towards fundamental knowledge, investigation for practical objectives and development drawing on existing knowledge. This composition adds substance to the headline total by showing the different activities included within it.
Institutions, industries and regions
Breakdowns distinguish enterprises, government-affiliated research institutions and higher education. Additional tables cover industrial sectors and provinces. The denominators vary: industrial R&D intensity is related to business revenue, whereas national and provincial intensity use GDP or regional GDP. The distribution of spending and the intensity of spending therefore answer different questions about research activity.
Fiscal spending and statistical methods
Fiscal science-and-technology expenditure is presented separately from R&D expenditure. The explanatory notes describe comprehensive surveys, sampling, surveys of principal units and estimation for different populations. These distinctions clarify how the publication brings together information from institutions with different activities and reporting systems.
Dates and edition: issued 16 October 2026 and published on the English page on 17 October, reporting the year 2025. Its specialised figures differ from the preliminary R&D totals in the February annual communiqué. The 2025 GDP and regional-GDP denominators are themselves identified as preliminary.
Original source: National Bureau of Statistics of China.
Related reading: Ecology, Science and Technology · Economy and Development.