BEIJING — China's total research and development spending has overtaken the United States for the first time, ending 45 years of U.S. dominance since the survey began in 1981.
China's R&D spending reached 97.1 trillion yen (about 847.5 trillion won) in 2024, up 13.1% from a year earlier, according to the Science and Technology Indicators 2026 report released recently by the National Institute of Science and Technology Policy, an arm of Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The report was cited on the 9th. U.S. spending rose 6.7% over the same period to 95.3 trillion yen (about 829.96 trillion won). The totals combine public and private sector spending.
Corporate investment drove the increase in China. R&D spending by Chinese companies climbed 13%, with the sharpest gains in the manufacturing of computers, electronics and optical products. Analysts attribute the trend to China's push for technological self-reliance after the United States began restricting exports of advanced semiconductors in 2022.
China also led in research output. It ranked first in the total number of papers as well as in the top 10% and top 1% of most-cited papers, taking the lead in both volume and quality. China published 84,392 papers, or 40.6% of the total, followed by the United States with 29,911, or 14.4%. The United States remains strong in the top 1% category, but its lead over China has narrowed and in some fields has been reversed. China's top ranking in R&D spending signals more than scale: competition with the United States for technological supremacy in strategic fields such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence, quantum computing and space is shifting from a contest over investment to a contest over results.
Japan ranked third with 22.1 trillion yen, up 8.4% from a year earlier. South Korea placed fifth with 15.3 trillion yen, below Germany's 18.27 trillion yen and above France's 8.82 trillion yen.
South Korea ranked higher when spending is measured against the size of its economy. Among 24 countries and regions surveyed, with the European Union counted as one region, South Korea's R&D spending equaled 5.13% of gross domestic product, second only to Israel's 6.76%. Sweden stood at 3.56%, the United States and Japan at 3.44% each, Britain at 2.75%, China at 2.69% and the 27 EU member states at 2.13%.
The report said South Korea's R&D-to-GDP ratio rose rapidly from the 2000s and is the highest among major economies apart from Israel. It also noted that South Korea, like China, is expanding its economy and raising R&D investment at the same time.
Companies accounted for 78.5% of South Korea's R&D spending and the government for 20.5%. The report said the corporate share has been rising over the long term while the share held by universities and public research institutes has declined.
South Korea produced 4,460 papers ranking in the top 10% by citations in their fields over 2022 to 2024, or 2.1% of the total, placing eighth among the 20 countries surveyed. Britain at 3.7%, India at 3.6%, Germany at 3.1%, Italy at 2.8% and Australia at 2.3% ranked ahead of South Korea. Japan stood at 1.5%, or 13th.
