China's expenditure on basic research exceeded 195.1 billion yuan (about $28.35 billion) in 2022, according to a report released by Dalian University of Technology on Tuesday.

An examiner checks the results made by an artificial intelligence model for blood cell testing in a laboratory at Xinqiao Hospital under the Army Medical University in southwest China's Chongqing, Feb 14, 2023. (Photo: Xinhua)

According to the report, China's research and development (R&D) expenditure reached 3,087 billion yuan ($455 billion) in 2022, the first time it has surpassed 3 trillion yuan and a 10.4-percent rise over the previous year.

Compared with major countries, China spent less on basic research in 2022. France, Italy and Singapore all invested more than 20 percent of their total R&D funds into basic research last year, while the number in the U.S. and the UK was over15 percent, and in Japan and South Korea, over 10 percent.

It shows that R&D expenditure in eastern China is much more than in other areas, accounting for 64 to 68 percent of the country’s total, while that of central and western China accounts for 15 and 13 percent, respectively, and that of northeastern China, 4 percent.

Overall, key R&D funding in China serves to optimize the country’s internal structure, the report said. It pointed out that resources and market led to great differences in the allocation of funds in different regions.

Therefore, how to stimulate leading enterprises in science and technology to participate in market-oriented applied basic research is key to ensure long-term development, it said.