China's overall manufacturing quality level maintained stable growth in 2007 with the national quality competitiveness index (QCI) reaching 80.99 points, up 1.01 points from 2006, the Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) said Monday.

The yearly-announced QCI was based on a survey of 250,000 enterprises in 29 industrial sectors, such as telecom equipment, machinery, petroleum and chemical, textile and furniture. China quality watchdogs adopted such a system five years ago.

The index ranges from 60 to 100. The higher the reading is, the more competitive the sector is in terms of product quality level.

According to AQSIQ, the QCI readings for two of the 29 industrial sectors exceeded 85 points -- telecom equipment, computer and other electronic equipment and electrical equipment -- indicating high-quality competitiveness.

The QCI readings for the processing of agricultural non-staple food and handicraft manufacturing remained the lowest among the 29 sectors at 74.37 points and 68.99 points, respectively, it said.

The AQSIQ also said China's large and medium-sized manufacturing companies spent much less on research and development in comparison with those in developed countries.

China's large and medium-sized manufacturing companies spent no more than 0.9 percent of their annual revenue on research and development, which hampered growth of their self-innovation capabilities, it said.

According to AQSIQ, China's large and medium-sized manufacturing companies had a total of 42,000 patent applications for inventions last year and sale revenues of new products surpassed four trillion yuan (585.7 billion U.S. dollars).

(Xinhua News Agency December 23, 2008)