Many people have used optical microscopes, through which we can see microscopic worlds such as cells and bacteria that cannot be directly observed by the naked eye. And in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, China has built a "super microscope" ---- spallation neutron source. Because of it, Chen Hesheng, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and commander-in-chief of the China Spallation Neutron Source Engineering Command, predicted that "in a few years, on the shores of Songshan Lake, it will not be an accident to meet world-class scientists." ”
As a major economic province in the country, Guangdong has been fully implementing the innovation-driven development strategy in recent years. Just recently, Shao Xinyu, vice minister of the Ministry of Science and Technology, revealed the latest data from Guangdong, especially the nine cities in the Pearl River Delta, at the briefing on scientific and technological innovation held by the Information Office of the State Council: in 2021, the R&D expenditure of the nine cities in the Pearl River Delta in the Greater Bay Area is expected to exceed 360 billion yuan, the intensity of R&D investment is expected to reach 3.7%, the national high-tech enterprises are expected to reach 57,000, and the number of patents authorized is expected to reach 780,000, of which the number of invention patents is expected to exceed 100,000.
How strong is the power source of scientific and technological innovation in Guangdong and the Pearl River Delta? Internationally, R&D (Research and Experimental Development) activities are usually used to measure the scale and intensity of R&D (Research and Experimental Development) activities, reflecting the scientific and technological strength and core competitiveness of a country or region. To this end, Nandu reporters based on the data released by the Guangdong Provincial Science and Technology Funding Investment Communiqué (2015-2020) and the Guangdong Provincial Government Work Report (2021), and sorted out the R&D funding of 9 cities in the Pearl River Delta.
The results show that in the past seven years, the total R&D expenditure in Guangdong Province has reached nearly 1.93 trillion yuan, which is close to the total GDP of Guizhou Province last year (1.96 trillion yuan). Especially since 2017, the annual increase in funding has exceeded 30 billion yuan. In the same period, the total R&D funding of the Pearl River Delta reached 183 million yuan, accounting for 94.8% of the province.com.
Provincial situation
R&D funding continues to increase and the intensity is steadily increasing
The scale of R&D funding is an intuitive indicator of the volume of scientific research and innovation in a region.
From an annual investment of less than 200 billion yuan to an annual investment of nearly 400 billion yuan, Guangdong R&D funding has increased year by year since 2015.
Nandu reporters collated data to see that from 2015 to 2021, the change in the scale of R&D funding in the province can be divided into three stages:
The first phase is 2015 and before, and the annual amount of R&D funding remains below 200 billion yuan.
The second stage is from 2016 to 2018: the annual investment of R&D funds exceeded the mark of 200 billion yuan, of which it reached 203.514 billion yuan in 2016, an increase of 13.2% year-on-year. In 2017, it reached 234.363 billion yuan, and the growth rate continued to expand, reaching 15.16%. 2018 was the highest growth rate in the past seven years, an increase of 15.41% compared with the previous year, reaching 270.47 billion yuan.
The third phase is from 2019 to 2021: during this period, the annual size of R&D funding climbed to the 300 billion mark and moved towards the 400 billion target. Specifically, it reached 309.849 billion yuan in 2019, 347.988 billion yuan in 2020, and 380 billion yuan in 2021.
It is at this stage that the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area was promulgated, and at the same time, it was clearly proposed to build the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area into an international science and technology innovation center with global influence, and then the flow of people, logistics and capital accelerated and flowed into the Greater Bay Area.
The ratio of R&D investment to regional GDP is called R&D investment intensity. Compared with the size of R&D funding, this indicator can better see the importance that a place attaches to research and development. In fact, the intensity of R&D funding is considered to be an important indicator to measure the long-term upgrading and development of various regions and even countries.
The data shows that the intensity of Guangdong R&D funding has maintained an upward momentum since 2015.
In 2015, the R&D funding intensity was 2.47%, and by 2021, it has risen to 3.14%, 0.7 percentage points higher than the national average (2.44%).
Regional situation
The province's R&D funding accounts for more than 90% of the Pearl River Delta
From the data in recent years, it can be seen that the proportion of R&D funding in the Pearl River Delta region in the province has been more than 94%.
According to the data of the Guangdong Provincial Science and Technology Funding Investment Communiqué, from 2015 to 2020, the R&D funding in the Pearl River Delta region rose from 170.435 billion yuan to 333.383 billion yuan, with a cumulative increase of 95.6%. The proportion of R&D funds in the province has also increased year by year, from 94.80% to 95.8%.
According to the data revealed by the Information Office of the State Council at the "Scientific and Technological Innovation" press conference, in 2021, the R&D expenditure of 9 cities in the Pearl River Delta will continue to grow, and it is expected to exceed 360 billion yuan.
Let's look at the specific city situation.
Shenzhen is worthy of being the world's leading capital of application innovation. From 2015 to 2020, the city's R&D funding reached a total of 655.33 billion yuan, accounting for 42.2% of the province's annual average, and both figures ranked first in the province and were significantly far away from other cities. According to data from the Guangdong Provincial Bureau of Statistics, during the "13th Five-Year Plan" period, Shenzhen's R&D funding increased by 106.3%, ranking third in the country. In 2021, the investment intensity of Shenzhen R&D "broke 5" for the first time, reaching 5.46%. By the end of 2021, the number of state-level high-tech enterprises in Shenzhen exceeded 20,000, more than double compared with 8,037 in 2016. In addition, Shenzhen has 169 specialized and special new "little giant" enterprises, with more than 2,000 various types of innovation carriers at all levels.
The overall scale of R&D funding in Guangzhou ranks second among all cities in the province. From 2015 to 2022, the total investment reached 342.28 billion yuan, accounting for 22.1% of the province's R&D funding (average). Shenzhen and Guangzhou are the only two cities in the province that account for double digits. The latest data shows (2022 Guangzhou Government Work Report) that in 2021, the investment intensity of R&D in Guangzhou will reach 3.15%, and the number of national and provincial key laboratories located in Guangzhou will increase to 21 and 256. There are 122 academicians working in Sui. The number of high-tech enterprises exceeded 12,000, an increase of 1.6 times over 2016.
In addition to The two cities of Guangzhou and Shenzhen, the scale of R&D funding exceeded 100 billion yuan from 2015 to 2020, including Foshan and Dongguan, which were 145 billion yuan and 136.92 billion yuan respectively.
In 2021, Foshan R&D investment intensity reached 2.91%, 20 new national specialized special new "little giant" enterprises, 135 provincial specialized special new enterprises, 5024 science and technology small and medium-sized enterprises into the warehouse, a total of 30 provincial key laboratories of enterprises, 812 provincial engineering technology research and development centers.
It is worth noting Dongguan. Judging from the scale of R&D investment in recent years, although Dongguan ranks fourth, its investment intensity is significantly improved. In 2020, R&D funding exceeded 34.2 billion, ranking third in the province. The information revealed by the city's recent work conference on promoting "scientific and technological innovation + advanced manufacturing" shows that the intensity of R&D investment in 2021 has increased to 3.54%, ranking second in the province. There are 7387 national high-tech enterprises in the city, ranking first among prefecture-level cities in the province.
The situation of 42 industries under statistics
2% or more! These 5 major industries have the highest R&D investment intensity
At present, only the 2020 provincial science and technology funding investment communiqué announces the R&D funding of specific industries.
Nandu reporters saw in the communiqué that a total of 42 industries listed the funding and investment intensity. Among them, there are 5 industries with a funding intensity of more than 2%.
According to the intensity ranking, in these five major industries, the instrumentation manufacturing industry ranks first, with R&D investment intensity of up to 3.45%, followed by pharmaceutical manufacturing, reaching 3.41%. According to the Statistical Communiqué of National Economic and Social Development of Guangdong Province in 2021, the medical equipment and instrumentation manufacturing industry increased by 10.1% throughout the year.
The third most intensive investment was in the computer, communications and other electronic equipment manufacturing industry at 2.7 percent. This was followed by general equipment manufacturing and electrical machinery and equipment manufacturing, at 2.22% and 2.13%, respectively.
However, according to the scale of R&D funding, the ranking order has changed greatly. Among these five industries, the computer, communication and other electronic equipment manufacturing industry has the highest amount of R&D funding, reaching 118.261 billion yuan. The electrical machinery and equipment manufacturing industry followed with 34.293 billion yuan, and the last seat of the top three was occupied by the general equipment manufacturing industry, with 10.536 billion yuan.
The investment of large scientific research funds has brought rich innovative results. According to the Global Innovation Index released by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou innovation cluster ranked second in the world for two consecutive years, and the construction of international science and technology innovation centers has shown results in enhancing innovation capabilities.
The information revealed in the 2022 government work report of the Pearl River Delta cities also shows that in the future, strategic emerging industries will continue to be promoted to promote the high-quality development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
Data source: Guangdong Provincial Bureau of Statistics, Guangdong Provincial Department of Science and Technology, Guangdong Provincial Department of Finance, etc
Nandu Cartography: Gandan
Written by: Nandu reporter Yi Xiaoxia Intern Li Ziyan Yang Chan Luo Ziyang