More investment in R&D required to create new drivers for growth

IN THE GOVERNMENT WORK REPORT he delivered to the 13th National People's Congress in Beijing on Monday, Premier Li Keqiang said that the input into research and development has grown 11 percent on average annually over the past five years, making China the world's second-largest investor in innovation, and that science and technology's contribution rate to the country's economic growth has increased from 52.2 percent to 57.5 percent. Beijing News comments:

The huge input has materialized into a series of breakthroughs in science and technology that have formed new drivers for growth and upgraded the economic structure.

China is at a crucial stage in its transition from being the world's workshop to becoming a strong manufacturing power. Thus, almost all plans and initiatives regarding industrial upgrading and restructuring pushed by the government entail progress in science and technology.