China is passing the EU on PPP Research dollars next year and should pass the USA in 2019

An OECD report shows that China is already spending twice as much as Japan for research and development and should pass the United States in 2019 (based on Purchasing power parity) China has pulled ahead of the European Union (EU) in the ratio of R&D spending to gross domestic product (GDP), reporting 2% in 2013 against the EU’s 1.9%.

The OECD Science, Technology and Industry Outlook 2014 reviews key trends in science, technology and innovation (STI) policies, and performance in more than 45 economies, including OECD countries and major emerging economies.

The quality of Chinese science is still behind the world average, which is reflected by citation indicators and the share of PhDs among researchers. China spends more on buildings and infrastructure than actual work.

In December 2013, the Battelle Memorial Institute, a non-profit science and technology organization based in Columbus, Ohio, and R&D Magazine predicted in their 2014 Global R&D Funding Forecast that China would not top the charts until around 2022.