State Council Information Office press conference Photo: Chu Daye/GT

 
The number of large and medium-sized high-tech manufacturing entities in China surged by 24.8 percent to 33,573 during the 2013-18 period, the latest economic census showed on Wednesday.

These entities have splashed 355.91 billion yuan ($50.63 billion) on research and development (R&D), which surged 75 percent during the period, according to the fourth national economic census released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The R&D to revenues ratio for China's large and medium-sized, domestic high-tech manufacturing entities has reached 2.27 percent, the census showed. NBS spokesperson Mao Shengyong, however, said at a press conference on Wednesday that the current ratio needs to be lifted further to meet the nation's rising growth demand.

The census focused on the state of China's companies in secondary and tertiary industries, whose number grew by 100.7 percent throughout 2013-18 as the world's second-largest economy shifts its growth pattern toward one featuring high-quality growth.

The two industries collectively employed 383 million people as of the end of 2018, up 7.6 percent from 2013 when the last national economic census was conducted.

There were 119,000 secondary and tertiary-industry companies from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan registered in the Chinese mainland in 2018, accounting for 0.6 percent of the national total, the latest economic census showed.

Some Chinese companies have invested heavily in R&D. Chinese telecommunications product maker Huawei, for instance, saw its R&D to revenues ratio reach 14 percent in 2018.

In comparison, corporate China's spending ratio remains unimpressive compared to that of US companies, analysts said.