China's research and development (R&D) expenditure rose 8.9 percent year on year to more than 3.6 trillion yuan (about 506.41 billion U.S. dollars) last year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Monday.

Over the 2021-2024 period, the country's R&D spending rose at an average annual rate of 10.5 percent -- one of the fastest paces among major economies -- making China the world's second-largest R&D investor, said Zhang Qilong, an NBS senior statistician.

R&D intensity, which looks expenditure as a share of GDP, edged up 0.11 percentage points to 2.69 percent last year.

In 2024, China's spending on basic research, applied research, and experimental development grew by 10.7 percent, 17.6 percent, and 7.6 percent, respectively, compared with the previous year.

Enterprises have accounted for more than 75 percent of the country's total R&D spending for many years running, and their contribution to the overall increase in such spending reached 77.1 percent, cementing their role as the main engine of China's R&D spending expansion.