MANHASSET, NY -- China is doing everything in its power to transform itself from a manufacturer into an innovator by greatly increasing its R&D expenditures.
According to a Lux Research market report, "Profiting from Predictable Policy: Interpreting China's 12th Five Year Plan for Emerging Technology," China’s 12th Five-Year Plan proclaims an increase of its latest R&D funding for emerging technologies by 159 percent to $18 billion. The goal is to bring unprecedented focus on innovation, efficiency, and infrastructure, according to the report.
"To achieve a sustainable growth, China has determined to focus on seven strategic and emerging industries: environmental technology, new energy, new energy vehicles, advanced equipment, biotechnology, new material, and information technology," said Xavier Xie, Lux Research analyst and, with Richard Jun Li, the lead author of the report, in a statement.
After studying the 12th Five-Year Plan and speaking to top Chinese government officials Lux Research came to these main findings:
- Despite R&D funding growing at an unprecedented rate China will still miss the set goal of 3 percent of GDP, a ratio maintained by several developed countries to maintain their edge in technology.
- Around 48 percent of its planned $18 billion investment on emerging technologies will go to environmental technologies, followed by new energy and smart grid sectors at 32 percent and 12 percent, respectively.
- Lux Research said a director in China's Ministry of Science and Technology told the firm they expect to support joint research programs developed by foreign research labs or multinational companies with their Chinese counterparts.
A Lux Research webinar on March 13th will provide more details from the report.