The World Investment Report 2005 released by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development on September 28 shows that since China's first foreign-funded R&D laboratory, which was established by Motorola in 1993, now China has had more than 700 R&D institutions set up by hundreds of transnational companies.

The report says, the past ten years saw a rapid increase of global expenditures on R&D, which hit US$677 billion in 2002.

Transnational companies take up nearly half the world's expenditure and two thirds that for commercial purpose.

The tendency of increasing R&D activities in China indicates transnational companies need local R&D in developing countries to support their expanding production.

By People's Daily Online