Artificial intelligence and quantum information are among the seven key areas China has identified as priorities for development as it seeks to become a global leader in the scientific field by 2035.
Integrated circuits, brain sciences, genetics and biotechnology, clinical medicine and health care, and deep Earth, sea, space and polar exploration were named as the other five sectors that will be given priority in terms of funding and resources, according to a draft of the government's 14th five-year plan for 2021-25, and its vision through 2035.
The draft, which was released on Friday at the opening session of the National People's Congress in Beijing, said innovation and technological self-sufficiency were at the core of China's strategy to "develop new advantages" in the face of increased hostility and decoupling pressures from major Western countries.
Get the latest insights and analysis from our Global Impact newsletter on the big stories originating in China.
"Internationally speaking, unstable and uncertain factors are increasing. Our innovation capability is not strong in some key fields," Premier Li Keqiang said as he delivered the government's annual work report.
"Basic research is the wellspring of scientific and technological innovation, so we will ensure the stable functioning of funding mechanisms for basic research and boost spending in this area by a considerable sum," he said.
Central government spending on basic research would increase 10.6 per cent this year and investment in research and development would grow at an annual rate of at least 7 per cent over the next five years, the report said.
"We will enhance the capacity of enterprises to achieve technological innovation, unlock the creativity of talent, and improve the systems and mechanisms for making scientific and technological innovation," Li said.
Figures from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development show that China has been closing the gap with Western nations on science and tech spending. In 2000, China's funding for R&D was just 0.9 per cent of its GDP. But by 2018 the figure had grown to 2.1 per cent of GDP - or 1.96 trillion yuan (US$302.5 billion) - putting the country 18th on a global list topped by Israel with 4.3 per cent.
Despite the increase, only about 5 per cent of China's overall spending on R&D was on basic research, compared to 15 per cent in the United States in 2018.
In 2019, China's total R&D spend - by governments and companies - was 2.23 trillion yuan, or 2.2 per cent of GDP, according to the Ministry of Science and Technology. The figure rose to 2.4 per cent last year but still fell short of the 2.5 per cent target set in the previous five-year plan.