Science and technology (S&T) indicators are quantitative measurements of S&T activities,
aimed at accurately reflecting the status of S&T activities and their role and impact on society
and the economy. They serve as a basis for S&T policy development and evaluation of S&T
policy effectiveness. Countries and international organizations are placing increasing importance
on S&T indicators as a key tool of S&T policy development and analysis.
China Science and Technology Indicators, a report series jointly prepared by the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Peoples Republic of China together with other relevant ministries and agencies of the State Council, has been published since 1990s as a government
yellow book on S&T development. China Science and Technology Indicators 2022 is the 16th volume of the yellow book.
This volume mainly draws on S&T statistics and relevant economic and social statistics as of the end of 2021. It provides a comprehensive picture of Chinas S&T development since the implementation of the Science, Technology and Innovation Development Plan for the 14th Five-Year Plan Period, reveals the main characteristics of Chinas S&T activities as a driving force
of the national economic and social transformation and high-quality development, and reflects
the historical process of China gearing itself to enhance indigenous innovation capabilities and become a world power in science and technology.
The report presents a systematic analysis of the key indicators of Chinas S&T development in the past decade and more, including R&D personnel, R&D expenditure, output of S&T activities, S&T activities of the main sectors of performance (enterprises, higher education institutions and government research institutions), high-tech industry and innovation & business startup, and regional S&T progress. As the latest volume of a report series, this book
has maintained overall stability in terms of framework and indicator system. First, the report
underscores the importance of trend analysis and historical comparison of the S&T indicators. Through comparative analysis of S&T statistical indicators over an extended timeframe, it
reviews the efforts China has made in recent years to promote S&T development and build an
innovative country, with the aim of analyzing, as thoroughly as possible, the long-term historical trends and patterns of S&T development. Second, the report puts emphasis on international
comparability. It compares China with major developed countries and emerging economies
on internationally comparable indicators in order to position and characterize Chinas S&T development in the global context. Due to data availability, this report does not include the
statistics of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan unless otherwise specified.
The Editorial Board wishes to acknowledge its gratitude for the guidance and assistance provided by authorities, experts and scholars of government agencies and institutions including
National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Finance, General Administration of Customs, National Bureau of Statistics, State Intellectual Property Office, ChineseAcademy of Sciences, StateAdministration of Science,Technology and Industry for National Defense, State Administration of Foreign Exchange, National Natural Science Foundation of China, and China Association for Science and Technology, and invites comments
and feedback from readers.
Editorial Board of China Science and Technology Indicators 2022
December 2023

Chapter 1　R&D Personnel 11 Section 1　Overview of R&D Personnel 11 Section 2　Structure of R&D Personnel14 Section 3　Cultivation of Human Resources in Science and Technology19
Chapter 2　Research and Development Expenditure 23 Section 1　Overview of R&D Expenditure 23 Section 2　Structure of R&D Expenditure 27 Section 3　Sources and Destinations of R&D Expenditure 32 Section 4　Government Science and Technology Expenditure34
Chapter 3　Output of Science and Technology Activities 37 Section 1　S&T Papers37 Section 2　Patents45 Section 3　Technology Transaction 54
Chapter 4　Research and Development Activities of Enterprises 58 Section 1　R&D Activities of Enterprises 58 Section 2　R&D Activities of Industrial Enterprises62 Section 3　R&D Collaboration and Technology Acquisition of Industrial Enterprises 71
Chapter 5　Science and Technology Activities of Higher Education Institutions 76 Section 1　R&D Institutions and Personnel of HEIs76 Section 2　R&D Expenditure of HEIs 81 Section 3　R&D Output of HEIs 87
Chapter 6　S&T Activities of Government Research Institutes 90 Section 1　Overview of Research Institutes90 Section 2　R&D Personnel of Research Institutes 91 Section 3　R&D Expenditure of Research Institutes95 Section 4　Output of S&TActivities and Transfer of Technological Achievements 100
Chapter 7　High-tech Industry and Innovation & Start-up 105 Section 1　High-tech Industry 105 Section 2　National High-tech Zones and Business Incubators 113
Chapter 8　Regional Science and Technology Indicators 120
Annex Tables 131 Annex Table 1-1　Overview of R&D personnel (2006-2021) 131 Annex Table 1-2　R&D personnel of selected countries/regions by sector of
performance 133 Annex Table 1-3　Number of undergraduate and postgraduate students (2006-2021) 134 Annex Table 2-1　R&D expenditure (2000-2021) 136 Annex Table 2-2　Distribution of R&D expenditure by type of activity and sectors of
performance (2000-2021) 137 Annex Table 2-3　Structure of R&D expenditure by sectors of performance (2021) 138 Annex Table 2-4　Central and local government S&T expenditures and their
proportions to total government expenditure (2000-2021) 138 Annex Table 2-5　R&D expenditure of selected countries (2010-2021) 139 Annex Table 2-6　R&D intensity of selected countries (2010-2021) 141 Annex Table 2-7　Distribution of R&D expenditure of selected countries by type of
activity 143 Annex Table 2-8　Distribution of R&D expenditure of selected countries by sectors of
performance 144 Annex Table 2-9　Distribution of R&D expenditure of selected countries by source of
funds 145 Annex Table 3-1　SCI papers from China (2007-2021) 146 Annex Table 3-2　SCI papers from China by academic discipline and type of
institution (2007-2021) 147 Annex Table 3-3　Number of three types of resident and non-resident patent
applications and grants (2006-2021) 148 Annex Table 3-4　Number of resident invention patent grants by type of patent
owner (2006-2021) 149 Annex Table 3-5　PCT applications of selected countries (2010-2021) 149 Annex Table 3-6　Triadic patent applications of selected countries (2010-2020) 150 Annex Table 3-7　Chinas technology contract turnover (2011-2021) 151 Annex Table 3-8　Technology contracts in China (2021) 152 Annex Table 4-1　Enterprise R&D personnel and R&D expenditure (2006-2021) 153 Annex Table 4-2　Sources and composition of enterprise R&D
expenditure (2010-2021) 154 Annex Table 4-3　Intramural R&D expenditure of industrial enterprises (2009-2021) 155 Annex Table 4-4　R&D intensity of industrial enterprises (2009-2021) 155 Annex Table 4-5　Experimental development expenditure of industrial enterprises
and its proportion to total R&D expenditure of industrial enterprises
(2009-2021) 156 Annex Table 4-6　Distribution of intramural R&D expenditure of industrial enterprises
by industry (2021) 156 Annex Table 4-7　Distribution of extramural R&D expenditure of industrial enterprises
above the designated size by industry (2021) 158 Annex Table 4-8　Expenditure on technology acquisition of industrial enterprises
above the designated size (2011-2021) 160 Annex Table 5-1　R&D activities of higher education institutions (2006-2021) 161 Annex Table 5-2　Higher education institution R&D expenditure of selected countries 162 Annex Table 6-1　Number of research institutes (2006-2021) 162 Annex Table 6-2　R&D personnel of research institutes (2006-2021) 163 Annex Table 6-3　Proportion of R&D personnel of research institutes to national
total of selected countries (2006-2021) 163 Annex Table 6-4　Academic degree structure of R&D personnel in research
institutes (20092021) 164 Annex Table 6-5　R&D expenditure of research institutes (2006-2021) 164 Annex Table 6-6　Proportion of R&D expenditure of research institutes to
national R&D expenditure, of selected countries (2006-2021) 165 Annex Table 6-7　Proportion of basic research expenditure to R&D expenditure of
research institutes, of selected countries (2006-2021) 165 Annex Table 6-8　Output of S&T papers of research institutes (2006-2021) 166 Annex Table 6-9　Patent applications of and patent grants to research
institutes (2006-2021) 166 Annex Table 6-10　Number of technology contracts of research institutes (2006-2021) 167 Annex Table 6-11　Turnover of technology contracts of research institutes (2006-2021) 167 Annex Table 7-1　High-technology sector overview (2010-2021) 168 Annex Table 7-2　High-technology sector on main S&T indicators (2010-2021) 170 Annex Table 8-1　Main S&T indicators by region (2021) 174 Annex Table 8-2　Performance of regions on main S&T indicators (2021) 174
Explanatory Notes to Major Statistic Indicators 176