Central government financial technology expenditure is expected to exceed 400 billion for the first time, with a focus on basic research.

To support science and technology self-reliance and strength, the central government’s fiscal authorities have continued to increase their investment in science and technology.

Recently, the Ministry of Finance disclosed the central government budget for 2026. Among this year’s expenditures under the central level itself, the budget for science and technology spending is 426.42 billion yuan, up 10% from the figure for 2025 actually executed (387.7 billion yuan). This is clearly higher than the average growth rate of central-level expenditures (5.5%), and it is also the highest growth rate among the central-level expenditure categories with spending of over one trillion yuan.

In 2009, China first publicly released the central government budget. Official data for that year showed that in 2008, central-level science and technology spending was about 107.7 billion yuan, accounting for about 8% of central-level expenditures. A reporter from Yicai.com reviewed the central government budgets disclosed by the Ministry of Finance in subsequent years and found that in 2012, science and technology spending under the central level first exceeded 200 billion yuan (about 221 billion yuan). In 2018, this spending first exceeded 300 billion yuan. And this year, central-level science and technology spending is expected to first exceed 400 billion yuan, with an expected share of central-level expenditures of about 9.4%.

So where will this year’s central-level science and technology spending—expected to exceed 400 billion yuan—primarily be spent? The main allocation will still be for applied research and basic research, but with a tilt toward basic research.

According to the Ministry of Finance’s disclosure of the “Expenditure Budget Table for Central Level in 2026” and its accompanying notes, among this year’s central science and technology spending, the budget for basic research is about 116.94 billion yuan, up 16.3% from last year’s executed figure; the budget for applied research is about 156.91 billion yuan, down about 13.3% from last year’s executed figure.

The Ministry of Finance explained that the increase in basic research this year is mainly due to higher expenses related to laboratories and increased central budgetary investment. Meanwhile, the decline in applied research this year is mainly because, at the end of the “14th Five-Year Plan” period last year, the spending base was already relatively high. In the early stage of the “15th Five-Year Plan,” some projects’ plans were still being formulated.

Based on the above publicly disclosed information by the Ministry of Finance, in this year’s budget arrangements for central fiscal basic research spending, other basic research spending (about 20.5 billion yuan) will grow by 50.2%, special basic research spending (about 22.8 billion yuan) will increase by 44.2% year over year, and the National Natural Science Foundation (about 41.9 billion yuan) will increase by 6.1% year over year.

In the budget table for central government investment expenditure under the Ministry of Finance’s 2026 central budget, the budgeted amount for science and technology spending is about 8.29 billion yuan, up 93.7% from last year’s executed figure. Of this, the budget for basic research is about 8.04 billion yuan, up 186.6%.

These fiscal funding arrangements also reflect relevant deployments by the State Council this year.

One of the top ten tasks for the government this year set out in the Government Work Report is to accelerate high-level science and technology self-reliance and self-improvement. This includes strengthening original innovation and tackling key core technologies. Leveraging the advantages of the new nationwide system, we will advance key core technology R&D across the full chain, organize and implement major science and technology projects well, strengthen the layout in strategic frontier fields, and deliver more original achievements. We will continue to increase the proportion of investment in basic research and enhance stronger long-term, stable support.

In the strengthening of original innovation and the tackling of key core technologies described above, this year’s budget reports from the central and local levels require, among other things, to coordinate and promote basic research guided by goals and driven by free exploration, increase investment intensity, improve an investment mechanism that combines competitive support and stable support, and increase central-level spending on basic research by 16.3%.

From the budgets of the relevant central departments this year, it is possible to see the flow of funds for science and technology expenditures more clearly.

For example, according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ 2026 departmental budget, the budgeted income from general public budget appropriations it will receive (about 61.1 billion yuan) is up 14.67% from last year’s budget figure. This is mainly because it will bear major science and technology projects and strengthen basic research. The Ministry of Science and Technology’s 2026 departmental budget shows that the department’s budgeted income from general public budget appropriations this year is about 13.2 billion yuan, up 11.07% from the start of 2025. This is mainly because fiscal appropriations for major science and technology projects have increased.