Key Trends

• The Chinese agricultural research system is highly decentralized. At the national level, the principal agricultural R&D agencies are the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Fishery Science, and the Chinese Academy of Forestry.
• At the provincial level, agricultural research is carried out at academies and related government-sponsored agricultural research institutes. The agricultural R&D agencies at the perfecture level conduct applied and adaptive research.
• With more than 58,000 fte public agricultural researchers in 2005, China's R&D capacity is the largest in the world.
• Agricultural R&D spending in China has progressively increased in recent years, reaching $2.7 billion (in 2005 PPP prices) in 2005.
• The bulk of Chinese agricultural R&D is financed by the government.

China