In this file photo taken on Sept 26, 2019,
a journalist views a robot during a visit to the Innovation Achievement Exhibition in Zhongguancun National Innovative Demonstration Zone in Beijing. (LIU CHAN / XINHUA)
BEIJING – The China Innovation Index, the barometer of the country's innovation capability, continued to climb in 2020, official data shows.
The index, introduced in 2005, increased by 6.4 percent from the 2019 level to 242.6 last year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics data.
The index, which comprises four sub-indices, measures the innovation environment, input, output and effects.
Up to 19 out of the 21 indicators in the four categories witnessed increases compared with a year ago, the NBS data shows. Six indicators, such as the number of brands owned by enterprises and the trade volume of the technology market, reported double-digit growth.
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In breakdown, the sub-index for the innovation environment rose 6.3 percent year on year to 266.3.
The country's input in research and development (R&D) saw double-digit growth for five consecutive years
Four out of five indicators in this field increased, with one indicator that measures the scale of national financial expenditure on science and technology edging down, due to the impact of the pandemic.
The innovation input index stood at 209.7, up 5.4 percent from the previous year.
The country's input in research and development (R&D) saw double-digit growth for five consecutive years.
The R&D intensity, or the R&D expenditure to GDP ratio, climbed 0.16 percentage points from the previous year, a record high growth since 2010, to 2.4 percent.
The total R&D expenditure of enterprises witnessed a jump of 10.4 percent year on year to reach around 1.87 trillion yuan (about US$292.6 billion).
The sub-index for innovation output saw a steady growth of 8.5 percent at 319.8, with the number of domestic patents granted skyrocketing 42.3 percent to over 3.52 million.
The sub-index for the innovation effects increased 3.8 percent to 174.7.
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The data shows that sci-tech innovation has further promoted the country's green development.
Last year, the energy consumption per unit of GDP edged down 0.1 percent from the previous year.
Coal consumption accounted for 56.8 percent of the total energy consumption, edging down 0.9 percentage points, while that of clean energy went up 1 percentage point to 24.3 percent.
The index readings reflect the forward strides China has made in the capabilities and level of innovation, said Li Yin, a statistician with the NBS, noting that innovation has provided key support for the country to sustain sound growth and pursue high-quality economic development.