On October 25th, the National Bureau of Statistics released the 2023 China Innovation Index results, as reported on their official website. Lin Mei, a statistician from the Bureau’s Social Sciences and Cultural Division, provided insights into these findings.
According to the results, the 2023 China Innovation Index reached 165.3, marking a 6.0% increase from 2022 and reflecting a steady growth trend. Among the 18 evaluation indicators across four subfields, four key indicators, including the proportion of businesses benefiting from tax deductions, the number of high-value invention patents per 10,000 R&D personnel, the percentage of science and engineering graduates among the eligible population, and the full-time equivalent R&D personnel per 10,000 population, all experienced growth rates exceeding 10%. This upward trend in the innovation index suggests that China’s innovation capacity is steadily advancing, with an improving innovation environment, increasing investment, and accelerating outcomes that collectively support high-quality development.
First, there has been an accelerated improvement in the innovation environment, with its index rising by 10.4% to 177.1 in 2023—the highest growth rate among the four subfields. All five evaluation indicators in this domain showed positive growth.
Policies regarding tax deductions have benefited businesses significantly. The proportion of companies enjoying tax deductions increased swiftly. The policy aimed at R&D expense deductions has intensified, with the deduction rate continuously increasing and ongoing benefits being realized. By 2023, over 123,000 enterprises in large-scale industrial sectors were under these tax policies, growing by 8,000 from the previous year.
Moreover, the number of science and engineering graduates has substantially risen. The index reflecting the proportion of science and engineering graduates among the eligible population continued to show double-digit growth. These graduates are crucial to technological innovation, and in 2023, the number of undergraduate and above graduates in engineering, agriculture, and medical sciences reached approximately 2.973 million—an increase of 202,000 from the previous year.
Second, innovation investment has also continued to grow, with the innovation investment index increasing by 5.5% to 155.0 in 2023. Among four evaluation indicators in this area, three saw growth, while the per capita funding for basic research declined due to a faster growth rate in the number of researchers compared to funding.
R&D investment remained robust, reaching approximately 3.34 trillion yuan in 2023, which is an 8.4% increase from the previous year, keeping China as the second largest R&D investor globally. The R&D investment intensity, calculated by the ratio of R&D expenditure to GDP, was 2.65%, up by 0.09 percentage points from last year, narrowing the gap with the OECD average of 2.73%. Basic research funding accounted for 225.9 billion yuan—a rise of 11.6%—which continues to demonstrate double-digit growth, surpassing the overall R&D funding growth by 3.2 percentage points and achieving the highest historical share at 6.77%.
The role of enterprises in technology innovation is becoming more solidified. R&D expenditure from firms reached approximately 2.5922 trillion yuan, growing by 8.6%, and accounting for 77.7% of the nation’s total R&D funding. Among larger industrial firms, R&D spending was approximately 2.0969 trillion yuan, marking an 8.3% increase, with 291,000 of these firms engaging in technological innovation—about 60.5% of the total, which is a 3.4 percentage point increase from the previous year.
Third, the innovation output has seen rapid growth, with the output index increasing by 6.5% to 199.7 in 2023. All four evaluation indicators in this area recorded growth.
The achievements in innovation were noteworthy, with the number of invention patents granted reaching 921,000—up 15.3% from the previous year. By the end of 2023, the number of effective domestic invention patents exceeded 4 million for the first time, reaching 4.015 million, a 22.4% rise. The share of high-value intellectual property continued to increase, with the amount of high-value invention patents reaching 1.665 million and representing 41.5% of the valid invention patents, a 1.1 percentage point increase year-on-year. The number of high-value invention patents per 10,000 people reached 11.8, an increase of 2.4 from the previous year.
There has also been significant growth in the technology market, with 950,000 contracts signed—an increase of 22.5%—and a total transaction value of 6.1 trillion yuan, up 28.6% from the previous year. The average contract value reached 649,900 yuan, which is an increase of 31,200 yuan.
Lastly, the effectiveness of innovation is stable yet innovative, with the effectiveness index at 129.4, a slight growth of 0.4%. While one indicator regarding the export share of high-tech products exhibited volatility, the remaining indicators either maintained or showed growth compared to the previous year.
Labor productivity saw steady improvements, with the average productivity at 161,615 yuan per person, up 5.7% from last year. Technological innovation has enhanced resource use efficiency, facilitating industrial upgrades and bolstering competitiveness.
New economic drivers are gathering pace, with the “Three New” economic value added reaching 22.4 trillion yuan, a 6.4% increase that outpaced GDP growth by 1.8 percentage points. This segment accounted for 17.73% of GDP, a year-on-year increase of 0.37 percentage points. Sales of new products also maintained steady growth, with large industrial enterprises achieving new product sales revenue of 34.1 trillion yuan, a 4.1% increase, and constituting 25.3% of total revenue, which is a 1.6 percentage point increase from the previous year.
