Top internet companies hike R&D spending

China's top 100 internet companies have beefed up research and development spending, driving their emergence as first-tier international players and laying down a sound footing for growth of the nation's digital economy, a report said on Wednesday.

The collective R&D spending of the top 100 domestic internet giants led by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd hit a new high of 153.87 billion yuan ($21.86 billion) in 2018, up 45 percent year-on-year, according to the report released by the Internet Society of China and an information center affiliated with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Jiao Xulu, an official at the ministry, said domestic internet companies are making steady R&D progress, with a string of internationally competitive players emerging in the fields of cloud computing, big data, artificial intelligence and other technologies.