State-owned enterprises supervised and administered by local governments in China reported a 10.4 percent rise in R&D spending that amounted to 249.57 billion yuan (about $35 billion) in the first half of 2024, according to the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council.

The increased spending came amid efforts by state-owned enterprises to accelerate scientific and technological innovation capabilities, said Zhang Yuzhuo, chairman of the commission.

Zhang said earlier this week that since the beginning of this year, state-owned assets supervision and administration commissions of local governments have launched a series of policy measures to support scientific and technological innovation.

For instance, in east China's Shandong Province, local state-owned enterprises are encouraged to prioritize wage increase incentives for scientific and technological talent and provide remuneration for key talent on a case-by-case basis. In Beijing and Xiamen, policies to set up R&D reserve funds for state-owned enterprises have been formulated and implemented on a pilot basis.

Zhang said the commission will strive to optimize institutional arrangements to promote indigenous innovation in state-owned enterprises, encourage diversified capital investment, and nurture high-quality venture capital institutions in efforts to boost innovation in basic research and industrialize innovation outcomes.

In the first half of this year, local SOEs reported total business revenues of 19.2 trillion yuan and total profits of 826.78 billion yuan. Their fixed asset investment stood at 2.9 trillion yuan.

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