China accelerates commercialization of scientific achievements

China has demonstrated a strong capacity to turn scientific and technological achievements into real-world applications and is stepping up efforts to integrate scientific innovation with industrial development to support high-quality productive forces.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021–25), reforms and improved policy support, along with enhanced market services, have accelerated the transformation of scientific and technological achievements into productive forces, according to a report under review by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature.

From 2020 to 2024, the nationwide transaction volume of technology contracts more than doubled, rising from 2.83 trillion yuan ($402 billion) to 6.84 trillion yuan, an increase of 141.7 percent, the report said.

The application of new technologies has supported the upgrading of traditional industries, while the scale of strategic emerging industries has continued to expand. The added value of high-tech manufacturing enterprises above a designated size increased by 42 percent in 2024 compared with 2020, with frontier fields such as artificial intelligence and biotechnology emerging as new growth drivers for the economy.

The report said China has largely established an institutional framework for transforming scientific and technological achievements. The framework allows for the delegation of rights to use, dispose of and benefit from such achievements, defines reward ratios for contributors, improves the patent open licensing system, and strengthens legal provisions related to technology contracts.

Institutional reforms at universities and research institutes have focused on incorporating commercialization performance into evaluation systems for promotions and assessments, establishing technology transfer offices to improve services, and facilitating cooperation with enterprises through technology development, transfer, licensing and equity investment.

Enterprises continue to play a dominant role in scientific and technological innovation, helping to drive deeper integration between science and industry, the report said. In 2024, enterprises' research and development spending accounted for more than 77 percent of total social R&D investment, while valid invention patents held by enterprises made up 73.7 percent of the national total.

The report also highlighted supportive policies, including raising the pretax extra deduction ratio for enterprises' research and development expenses to 100 percent.

The fourth plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China reinforced this direction, calling for faster transformation of major scientific achievements.

Further efforts will focus on strengthening original innovation and tackling key technological bottlenecks to increase the supply of high-quality scientific and technological achievements, the report said. Measures include making strategic, forward-looking and systematic arrangements for basic research, increasing the share of investment in basic research, providing long-term and stable support, and promoting breakthroughs across the entire innovation chain in key core technologies.

Priority areas include integrated circuits, industrial machine tools, high-end instruments, basic software, advanced materials and biomanufacturing.

Large-scale demonstration projects will be launched to promote the application of new technologies, products and scenarios, and the "AI Plus" initiative will be fully implemented, according to the report. Authorities will also work to stimulate enterprises' internal momentum for innovation and deepen its integration with industrial development.

National science and technology programs will focus on enterprises' key generic technology needs, and original technology innovation hubs will be established. Intellectual property rights protection will be strengthened in emerging fields such as big data, artificial intelligence and gene technology.