OECD report calls for further reforms in China to boost R&D

China's impressive growth in R&D spending will not achieve satisfactory returns on investment unless a redirection is made from the current emphasis on experimental research for new products and in high-technology sectors, towards basic research, which has longer-term benefits, according to a report by the Paris, France-headquartered Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The international agency has called on the Chinese government to provide for more R&D in services, energy, environmental technology and basic research.

The OECD also notes that, despite China having more researchers than any country apart from the USA, the recent drop in the number of undergraduate science students could lead to a shortage of skilled science and technology staff.

Reforms to the largely state-owned banking system and to lax intellectual property rights, the latter particularly affecting drugmakers (Marketletters passim), would also benefit China's business innovation, the international body argued.