BEIJING, Feb. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- China spent 236.7 billion yuan (about 29.19 billion US dollars) on research and development (R&D)in 2005, a report released by the National Bureau of Statistics shows.

    The expenditure, up 20.4 percent on the previous year, accounted for 1.3 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).

    In 2005, R&D expenditure on basic scientific research reached 13.5 billion yuan as opposed to 10.2 billion yuan in 2004. The number of professionals engaging in scientific research in state-owned research institutions and enterprises reached 27.2 million.

    China accepted 476,000 patent applications last year, of which 80.5 percent were domestic. Of the total, 173,000 applications were for patents of inventions, with domestic ones representing 53.8 percent.

    Contracts for science and technology reached 265,000 in 2005, totaling 151 billion yuan and up 13.2 percent on the previous year. Enditem