Beijing – According to financial data analyst Wind, the R&D investment of China’s listed companies grew strongly in 2018.

As of Thursday, a total of 1,178 listed companies disclosed their research and development data for 2018. Last year, they spent 384.7 billion yuan (US$7.2 billion), a year-on-year increase of 23.72%.

China's listed companies

About 81% of companies invest more in R&D than in 2017, and their R&D spending has doubled.

Companies in oil exploration, infrastructure and electronics manufacturing dominate R&D spending, while investments in emerging industries such as computers, semiconductors and biomedicine account for a relatively large proportion of revenue.

The increase in R&D personnel has become one of the main drivers of a significant increase in R&D investment, with R&D professionals in 728 listed companies accounting for more than 10% of their total workforce.