290 Chinese Listed Companies Spent Over 190 Billion KRW on R&D; BYD Tops with 10.4 Trillion KRW Last Year

R&D Expenditures by Chinese Listed Companies Have Increased Every Year Since 2020

Last year, 290 publicly listed companies in China spent more than 190 billion KRW on research and development (R&D) expenses.

According to China Securities Journal on May 4, 290 Chinese listed companies spent over 1 billion yuan (approximately 192 billion KRW) on R&D in the previous year. In addition, 925 companies spent more than 10% of their sales revenue on R&D. Both figures are the highest ever recorded, according to the China Securities Journal.

Furthermore, 27 companies spent more than 10 billion yuan (approximately 1.92 trillion KRW) on R&D. The top five companies included BYD, which has emerged as the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer, as well as state-owned enterprises such as China State Construction Engineering, China Mobile, China National Petroleum Corporation, and China Railway Group.

BYD spent 54.161 billion yuan (about 10.4 trillion KRW) on R&D last year, ranking first among A-share (Shanghai and Shenzhen listed) companies.

The China Securities Journal reported that R&D spending by Chinese listed companies has continued to grow since 2020, and last year, R&D expenses exceeded 5% of sales revenue.

Additionally, the journal noted that 52 listed companies have seen continuous growth in net profit over the past five years.