China is set to overtake Japan to become the second biggest spender on research and development, according to a new report.
China is expected to spend US$153.7 billion on R&D in 2011, up from the US$141.4 billion it will spend this year, according to Battelle Memorial Institute, a non-profit company that does scientific research for government and industry.
By comparison, Japan is expected to spend US$144.1 billion, up from US$142 billion in 2010.
CapitalVue reports the US remains by far the biggest R&D spender at US$400 billion, or about one-third of the world’s total spending.