Census: Big high-tech industries, R&D spending grow rapidly from 2013 to 2018

China's large, high-tech manufacturing companies and its research and development expenditures increased rapidly from 2013 to 2018, laying solid groundwork for the country's pursuit of high-quality development, the fourth national economic census showed on Wednesday.

The number of industrial enterprises and related entities reached 66,214 by the end of 2018, accounting for 17.7 percent of all such enterprises and entities, the National Bureau of Statistics said.

There were 33,573 large, high-tech manufacturing companies by the end of 2018, up 24.8 percent from the end of 2013, according to the NBS.