China's top private firms in R&D investment see steady rise in innovation spending

XI'AN, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- China's top 1,000 private enterprises in research and development (R&D) investment reported steady growth in innovation spending in 2024, according to a report released by the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce on Friday.

The report, released at a conference on the private economy held in China's northwestern city of Xi'an, showed that the total R&D expenditure of these leading private firms reached 1.43 trillion yuan (about 201 billion U.S. dollars) in 2024, up 2.78 percent year on year. The companies held a combined total of 1.4281 million valid domestic and international patents, a year-on-year increase of 27.58 percent, including 594,600 invention patents, up 15.55 percent.

With the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation with industrial innovation, these enterprises generated 39.92 trillion yuan in revenue in 2024, a 6.87-percent increase over the previous year, while total profits rose 7.85 percent year on year to 2.31 trillion yuan.

China's private sector is also strengthening its presence on the global stage. Among the world's top 1,000 companies in R&D investment last year, 112 were Chinese private firms, signaling steadily growing international competitiveness.