China’s top 500 companies by R&D spending and patent ownership

On Oct. 12, the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce (ACFIC), a Chinese organization assisting the government in managing China’s private sector economy, released a report reviewing China’s innovation landscape listing top 1000 Chinese privately-owned companies that spend the most in research and development (R&D) and own the most patents respectively.

 

The total R&D spending of the top 500 companies amounts to 742.9 billion yuan ($115.3 billion) with a whopping sum of 141.9 billion yuan ($22 billion) ranking Huawei the biggest spender. The top 500 companies own 330,000 patents altogether, with 90,000 patents ranking Huawei the biggest owner.

 

The report finds that the top three technological fields of R&D spending are 1) manufacture of computers, communications devices, and other electronic devices, 2) the internet and related services, and 3) manufacture of electrical machinery and equipment. Their respective spending numbers 219.2 billion yuan ($34 billion), 166.8 billion yuan ($25.9 billion), and 62.6 billion ($9.7 billion). Of the top 1000 companies by R&D spending, by megalopolis, the GuangdongHong Kong–Macau Greater Bay Area (粤港澳大湾区) leads the ranking with 92 companies listed totaling 272.3 billion yuan ($42.3 billion), followed by the Yangtze Delta (长江三角洲城市群) with 391 companies listed totaling 246.6 billion yuan ($38.3 billion) and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (京津冀城市群) with 79 companies listed totaling 124.6 billion yuan ($19.3 billion).


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