Tag Archives: innovation

#China’s Sci-Tech Innovation Capacity Reaches New Heights: A Look Back at the 14th Five-Year Plan

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A futuristic scene depicting quantum mechanics concepts alongside advanced technology, featuring a scientist in a lab, a robotic arm, a space station, and a ship, all set against a backdrop of the Chinese flag.

China has concluded the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021–2025) with remarkable achievements in science, technology, and innovation. According to a report released by the National Bureau of Statistics, the country has significantly strengthened its innovation ecosystem, accelerated breakthroughs in strategic technologies, and deepened the integration of innovation across economic and social development.

From record investments in research and development to advancements in aerospace, artificial intelligence, and digital transformation, China’s progress demonstrates the growing role of science and technology as a driver of high-quality growth.

Rising Investment Fuels Innovation

One of the most notable achievements during the past five years has been the steady increase in research and development (R&D) investment.

China’s R&D expenditure grew from RMB 2.44 trillion in 2020 to RMB 3.93 trillion in 2025, representing an average annual growth rate of 10 percent. At the same time, R&D intensity—the proportion of R&D spending relative to GDP—increased from 2.36 percent to 2.80 percent, surpassing the average level of OECD countries.

The country also continued to expand its scientific workforce. Full-time R&D personnel increased from 5.24 million person-years in 2020 to 7.95 million person-years in 2025, maintaining China’s position as the global leader in R&D talent for 13 consecutive years.

The commercialization of research has also accelerated. The value of technology contracts nationwide rose sharply from RMB 2.8 trillion to RMB 7.6 trillion, highlighting stronger links between scientific discovery and industrial application.

Breakthroughs in Strategic Technologies

The 14th Five-Year Plan period witnessed major advances in frontier science and key technologies.

China established 77 national major scientific and technological infrastructure projects, many of which have reached internationally advanced standards. Significant progress was made in areas including:

  • Quantum information science
  • Artificial intelligence
  • Life sciences
  • Deep-sea exploration
  • Deep-earth research
  • Deep-space exploration

The country also achieved important milestones in semiconductor development, operating systems, and LiDAR technologies, strengthening its technological self-reliance in critical sectors.

Several landmark projects symbolize these achievements:

  • The Tiangong Space Station entered full operation and application.
  • The domestically developed C919 large passenger aircraft began regular commercial operations.
  • The “Mengxiang” deep-ocean drilling vessel was successfully commissioned.

These accomplishments demonstrate China’s growing ability to develop and deploy cutting-edge technologies at scale.

Building New Quality Productive Forces

Innovation has increasingly become the foundation of China’s industrial transformation.

By the end of 2025, the country had cultivated:

  • More than 600,000 technology and innovation-focused SMEs
  • 504,000 high-tech enterprises
  • Over 140,000 specialized and sophisticated SMEs

Digital transformation has also accelerated across industries. Nearly 90 percent of industrial enterprises above designated size had completed digital transformation initiatives by the end of 2025.

Meanwhile, the “three new” economy—consisting of new industries, new business formats, and new business models—accounted for 18.01 percent of GDP in 2024, representing a significant increase compared with 2020.

China’s digital economy continued to expand, reaching 33.1 percent of GDP in 2024. The country also led the world with 101 “lighthouse factories,” globally recognized manufacturing facilities that showcase advanced digital and intelligent production capabilities.

Innovation Delivering Real-World Benefits

The impact of technological progress extends far beyond laboratories and factories.

Industrial robots are now deployed across 71 major industrial sectors, with China’s robot density significantly exceeding the global average. In the energy sector, the country accounts for more than half of the world’s installed new energy storage capacity.

Agricultural modernization has also accelerated, with the contribution rate of agricultural technological advancement surpassing 64 percent in 2025.

In healthcare, digital innovation has improved accessibility and efficiency. Remote medical service networks now cover every city and county nationwide, while cross-provincial direct settlement systems for medical expenses have benefited more than 560 million patient visits.

These developments illustrate how innovation is improving productivity, sustainability, and quality of life across society.

Looking Ahead: The 15th Five-Year Plan

As China enters the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026–2030), the focus is shifting from building innovation capacity to maximizing innovation efficiency.

The latest report emphasizes the need to:

  • Deepen reforms in the science and technology system
  • Improve the efficiency of innovation ecosystems
  • Strengthen high-level technological self-reliance
  • Accelerate the development of new quality productive forces
  • Foster deeper integration between technological innovation and economic growth

With a stronger research base, world-class infrastructure, growing digital capabilities, and a thriving innovation ecosystem, China is positioning itself to play an increasingly influential role in shaping the future of global science and technology.

Conclusion

The achievements of the 14th Five-Year Plan demonstrate a significant leap in China’s scientific and technological capabilities. Increased R&D investment, expanding talent resources, breakthroughs in strategic technologies, and widespread digital transformation have collectively strengthened the nation’s innovation-driven development model.

As the next five-year period begins, China’s continued commitment to science, technology, and innovation is expected to serve as a key engine for sustainable economic growth, industrial modernization, and improved public well-being.

#Scientists find new way to enhance durability of #Lithium batteries.

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Safe and efficient energy storage is important for American prosperity and security. With the adoption of both renewable energy sources and electric vehicles on the rise around the world, it is no surprise that research into a new generation of batteries is a major focus. Researchers have been developing batteries with higher energy storage density and, thus, longer driving range. Other goals include shorter charging times, greater tolerance to low temperatures and safer operation.

One of the more promising such batteries has a lithium-containing cathode supplemented with nickel, manganese and cobalt (NMC). At the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, a team of scientists has recently developed a new coating method for NMC cathodes with high nickel content, which boosts the energy density substantially. The cathode is the positively charged battery component that supplies lithium ions that shuffle between it and the battery’s negatively charged electrode, called the anode, during cycling.

The repeated charging of batteries under conditions of high voltage and rapid recharge leads to structural instability and breakdown over time. To overcome the problem, Argonne scientists developed a new coating that allows the cathode particles to withstand the fracturing in their crystalline structure that had previously occurred upon cycling. They call this material ​“epitaxial entropy-assisted coating,” or EEC for short. According to Xu, ​“entropy assistance” ensures that the coating helps to prevent the breakdown of the material beneath it due to a thermodynamic effect, which leads materials to naturally become destabilized over time.

Read more at: https://www.anl.gov/article/scientists-find-new-way-to-enhance-durability-of-lithium-batteries

#Pentagon plans #AI-based program to estimate prices for critical minerals

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The US Department of Defense plans to develop a program to estimate prices and predict supplies of nickel, cobalt and other critical minerals, a move aimed at boosting market transparency but one that throws a new, uncertain variable into global metals markets.

The program, which received little attention after it was announced on a Pentagon website in October, is part of Washington’s broader efforts to jumpstart US production of critical minerals used in weapons manufacturing and the energy transition.

US output lags market leader China partly because attempts to build new American mines can be heavily influenced by commodity price swings.

The Pentagon’s work is being run by its Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) division, which was formed in response to the Soviet Union’s 1957 launch of the Sputnik 1 satellite and helped develop the Internet and the mRNA vaccine for Covid-19.

DARPA and the US Geological Survey plan to hire one or more private contractors to develop an artificial intelligence-backed model that would construct a metal’s “structural price” based on where and when it is produced, as well as labor, supply and other costs, according to documents seen by Reuters that describe the program, including a slide deck that DARPA presented last November to prospective contractors.

Read more at: https://www.mining.com/web/pentagon-plans-ai-based-program-to-estimate-prices-for-critical-minerals/?utm_source=Daily_Digest&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=MNG-DIGESTS&utm_content=pentagon-plans-aibased-program-to-estimate-prices-for-critical-minerals