China to spend over $2 billion in research & development this yr
7 Jan 2018 4:32 PM GMT
Beijing: China has budgeted over $2 billion for major research and development programmes this year, state media reported on Sunday.
The 13 billion yuan ($2 billion) programmes consist of 40 special projects and over 600 minor projects, covering four major fields including social development, high-tech research, agricultural science and technology, and fundamental research, the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) said.
China, which is reconfiguring its economy by curbing excessive manufacturing, has stepped Research and Development (R&D) budgets in key technologies.
China is investing heavily in modern technologies including internet of things and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
China has topped globally in 2016 with a record 1.3 million patent applications followed by 605,571 by the US and 318,381 by Japan, according to the official.
According to a guideline on patent budgets soon to be released by MOST, social development will receive the most funds, with 41.7 per cent of the total projects and 34.8 per cent of the budget.
Risk control in public security and technical equipment for emergencies were the two areas with the most funds under social development, according to the guideline.
Medical research is also set to get a big chunk of the budget, with five special projects receiving 1.2 billion yuan in total.
From 2016 to 2018, medical research received 30 per cent of the budget for social development.
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