China’s southern tech hub Shenzhen spent a record amount on research and development (R&D) last year, rivalling Beijing’s level and vastly exceeding that of neighbouring Hong Kong to cement its position as a national research mecca.
Shenzhen’s R&D expenditure jumped to 223.66 billion yuan (US$30.93 billion) in 2023, surpassing the 200-billion-yuan mark for the first time and up by nearly 19 per cent from the previous year, according to government data released last week.
R&D made up just under 6.5 per cent of the city’s gross domestic product (GDP), breaking through 6 per cent for the first time.
That made Shenzhen, home to Big Tech companies like Huawei Technologies and Tencent Holdings, the second-largest R&D hub in China in terms of both absolute expenditure and spending relative to GDP, according to the municipal government.
Top-ranked Beijing put 294.71 billion yuan into R&D last year, representing over 6.7 per cent of its GDP. The Chinese capital city is home to many of the nation’s top educational institutions and research facilities.
Source link
