China should further improve the structure of its research and development spending by raising the share devoted to basic research and encouraging broader participation from businesses, universities and society, said Pan Jiaofeng, president of the Institutes of Science and Development at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

He made the remarks during an exclusive interview with China Perspective when discussing China's basic research investment.

Pan said China already attaches great importance to basic research, with research and development expenditure totaling 3.93 trillion yuan ($567 billion) in 2025, accounting for 2.8 percent of GDP.

However, the share devoted to basic research remains relatively low, he noted. In 2024, basic research accounted for 6.88 percent of total R&D spending, and the proportion is estimated to have exceeded 7 percent in 2025.

By comparison, in technologically advanced economies, basic research typically accounts for around 15 to 20 percent of total R&D spending, suggesting that China still has considerable room to increase such investment, Pan said.

He also pointed to another structural issue: basic research funding in China remains heavily government-driven.

According to Pan, more than 90 percent, and possibly over 95 percent, of basic research funding in China still comes from the government, while in the United States, around 45 percent of technological research funding is led by businesses, universities and other social institutions.

To address this imbalance, China should further encourage both private and State-owned enterprises to increase investment in basic research, while also boosting input from universities and mobilizing greater support from society at large, he said.

Pan stressed that increasing investment is not only about expanding the amount of funding.

As enterprises invest more in basic research, they are likely to devote greater attention to fundamental issues, which in turn could help improve the quality of their R&D, he said.

Greater investment from universities would also encourage more frontier-oriented and exploratory work, Pan added.

"There is still huge potential in this area," he said.

Xu Yadi and Dilinazi Dilimulati contributed to this story.