The Hubei Provincial Bureau of Statistics recently published the research and development (R&D) spending for each city in 2022. Ezhou City's total R&D expenditure reached RMB 2.245 billion, marking a significant year-on-year increase of 71.77%, ranking it first in the province in terms of growth rate. Notably, R&D spending by enterprises above designated size accounted for 92.6% of the total. The city has substantially intensified its investment in R&D, resulting in rapid growth in expenditure, which has provided robust support for technological innovation and the transformation of achievements.
Innovation hinges on both investment and talent. Ezhou city has actively pursued an innovation-driven development strategy in recent years, nurturing high-tech enterprises and promoting collaboration between industry, universities, and research institutions. Ezhou city has consistently increased R&D investment across society, continuously enhancing the city's innovation capacity and creative potential, effectively driving high-quality economic development. Since the beginning of this year, the city has seen a surge in the number of science and technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises, with a 24.7% year-on-year increase. Additionally, there were also 167 registrations of high-tech enterprises, indicating a 45.2% year-on-year increase, and the establishment of 17 new innovative enterprises, a 112.5% year-on-year increase. The rapid expansion of science and technology-based enterprises has laid a solid foundation and provided assurance for the rapid growth of R&D investment.
Moving forward, Ezhou city will implement special policies to support technological innovation in enterprises. This will include offering rewards and subsidies for additional R&D expenditures by businesses and the acquisition of advanced technology achievements from universities and research institutes. The goal is to incentivise enterprises to boost R&D investment and strengthen their independent innovation capabilities.