The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Tuesday announced that it would add spending in research and development (R&D) to the calculation of GDP to better reflect the contribution of innovation to the economy and to further bring growth data to meet international standards.
China has placed great importance on innovation and R&D activities is increasingly becoming an important engine for economic growth, but "traditional calculation does not adequately reflect the role of R&D in economic growth," the NBS said in a post on its website Tuesday.
The move to include R&D spending in growth data would also push China's GDP data more in line with international standards, the bureau said.
"As the second-largest economy in the world, data on the Chinese economy attracts a lot of attention in the international community, which requires us to speedily adopt new international standards," the NBS said.
