According to the statistics of the 2008 national investment in research and development, the expenditure in R&D was 461.6 billion Yuan, 1.54% of the GDP. The governments spent 108.89 billion Yuan and the enterprises 331.16 billion Yuan, accounting for 23.6% and 71.7% of the total R&D expenditure respectively. The expenditures in basic research, applied research, and pilot development as a ratio of the total were 4.8%, 12.5%, and 82.8% respectively.

Investment in R&D in 2008 increased by 90.58 billion Yuan, or 24.4% over the previous year. R&D expenditure as a proportion of GDP also was up by 0.1%. The per-capita expenditure on researchers and relevant personnel was 235,000 Yuan, an increase of 21,000 Yuan over 2007.