Progress in science and technology accounted for over 60 percent of China's economic growth last year, according to preliminary estimates, a reflection of increased spending on research and development during the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20).

China's total expenditure on R&D last year could total 2.4 trillion yuan (about $372 billion), Wang Zhigang, minister of science and technology, told reporters on Feb 26.

Noting that the country has made "decisive achievements" in building an innovation-oriented nation, Wang said China's ranking in the Global Innovation Index, released by the World Intellectual Property Organization, had risen from 29 in 2015 to 14 last year.

Spending on basic research last year was nearly double that of 2015 and will likely exceed 150 billion yuan, Wang said.

To promote high-end industries, the government will speed up efforts to make breakthroughs in core technologies and strengthen the deployment of cutting-edge ones, Wang said.

A number of major scientific and technological projects in areas such as artificial intelligence will be rolled out, he said.

Greater support for the R&D will be given to the real economy along with translating scientific and technological achievements into industrial reality on a large scale, Wang said.