China's research and development spending as a proportion of the nation's GDP increased to 1.97 percent in 2012, 0.44 percentage point higher than four years ago, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Friday.

It said China's spending on R&D surpassed 1 trillion yuan ($160 billion) in 2012, almost twice the figure in 2009. The amount was 17.9 percent higher than in 2011.

In 2008, it was 461.6 billion yuan, which accounted for 1.53 percent of that year's GDP.

The bureau added that China's scientific innovation accounted for 51.7 percent of the nation's economic growth, up from 48.8 percent in 2008.