Since the end of the Cultural Revolution,[citation needed] China has made significant investments in scientific research[408] and is quickly catching up with the US in R&D spending.[409][410] In 2017, China spent $279 billion on scientific research and development.[411] According to the OECD, China spent 2.11% of its GDP on research and development (R&D) in 2016.[412] Science and technology are seen as vital for achieving China's economic and political goals, and are held as a source of national pride to a degree sometimes described as "techno-nationalism".[413] According to the World Intellectual Property Indicators, China received 1.54 million patent applications in 2018, representing nearly half of patent applications worldwide, more than double the US.[414] In 2019, China was No. 1 in international patents application.[415] China was ranked 12th, 3rd in Asia & Oceania region and 2nd for countries with a population of over 100 million in the Global Innovation Index in 2021, it has increased its ranking considerably since 2013, where it was ranked 35th.[416][417][418][419] China ranks first globally in the important indicators, including patents, utility models, trademarks, industrial designs, and creative goods exports and it also has 2 (Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou and Beijing in the 2nd and 3rd spots respectively) of the global top 5 science and technology clusters, which is more than any other country.[416] Chinese tech companies Huawei and ZTE were the top 2 filers of international patents in 2017.[420][421] Chinese-born academicians have won the Nobel Prize in Physics four times, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and Fields Medal once respectively, though most of them conducted their prize-winning research in western nations.[s][improper synthesis?]

Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, one of the first Chinese spaceports

China is developing its education system with an emphasis on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM); in 2009, China graduated over 10,000 PhD engineers, and as many as 500,000 BSc graduates, more than any other country.[428] China also became the world's largest publisher of scientific papers in 2016.[429] Chinese technology companies such as Huawei and Lenovo have become world leaders in telecommunications and personal computing,[430][431][432] and Chinese supercomputers are consistently ranked among the world's most powerful.

The Chinese space program is one of the world's most active. In 1970, China launched its first satellite, Dong Fang Hong I, becoming the fifth country to do so independently.[436] In 2003, China became the third country to independently send humans into space, with Yang Liwei's spaceflight aboard Shenzhou 5; as of 2021, thirteen Chinese nationals have journeyed into space, including two women. In 2011, China's first space station module, Tiangong-1, was launched, marking the first step in a project to assemble a large crewed station by the early 2020s.[437] In 2013, China successfully landed the Chang'e 3 lander and Yutu rover onto the lunar surface.

Since the end of the Cultural Revolution,[citation needed] China has made significant investments in scientific research[408] and is quickly catching up with the US in R&D spending.[409][410] In 2017, China spent $279 billion on scientific research and development.[411] According to the OECD, China spent 2.11% of its GDP on research and development (R&D) in 2016.[412] Science and technology are seen as vital for achieving China's economic and political goals, and are held as a source of national pride to a degree sometimes described as "techno-nationalism".[413] According to the World Intellectual Property Indicators, China received 1.54 million patent applications in 2018, representing nearly half of patent applications worldwide, more than double the US.[414] In 2019, China was No. 1 in international patents application.[415] China was ranked 12th, 3rd in Asia & Oceania region and 2nd for countries with a population of over 100 million in the Global Innovation Index in 2021, it has increased its ranking considerably since 2013, where it was ranked 35th.[416][417][418][419] China ranks first globally in the important indicators, including patents, utility models, trademarks, industrial designs, and creative goods exports and it also has 2 (Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou and Beijing in the 2nd and 3rd spots respectively) of the global top 5 science and technology clusters, which is more than any other country.[416] Chinese tech companies Huawei and ZTE were the top 2 filers of international patents in 2017.[420][421] Chinese-born academicians have won the Nobel Prize in Physics four times, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and Fields Medal once respectively, though most of them conducted their prize-winning research in western nations.[s][improper synthesis?]

Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, one of the first Chinese spaceports

China is developing its education system with an emphasis on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM); in 2009, China graduated over 10,000 PhD engineers, and as many as 500,000 BSc graduates, more than any other country.[428] China also became the world's largest publisher of scientific papers in 2016.[429] Chinese technology companies such as Huawei and Lenovo have become world leaders in telecommunications and personal computing,[430][431][432] and Chinese supercomputers are consistently ranked among the world's most powerful.

The Chinese space program is one of the world's most active. In 1970, China launched its first satellite, Dong Fang Hong I, becoming the fifth country to do so independently.[436] In 2003, China became the third country to independently send humans into space, with Yang Liwei's spaceflight aboard Shenzhou 5; as of 2021, thirteen Chinese nationals have journeyed into space, including two women. In 2011, China's first space station module, Tiangong-1, was launched, marking the first step in a project to assemble a large crewed station by the early 2020s.[437] In 2013, China successfully landed the Chang'e 3 lander and Yutu rover onto the lunar surface.