Centrally administered state-owned enterprises (SOEs) invested almost 100 billion yuan (14.49 billion U.S. dollars) in research and development in 2007, up 40.8 percent from the previous year, the state assets regulator said on Tuesday.

The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission said about 150 such SOEs allocated 98.7 billion yuan toR&D, comprising 26.9 percent of national R&D investment.

As of the end of 2007, these SOEs employed 1.02 million people in the science and technology fields and 465,000 people in R&D, up8.8 percent and 4.7 percent, respectively, over 2006.

(Xinhua News Agency July 9, 2008)