Over the decade, the US share of global R&D fell from 38% to 31%, the EU share fell from 27% to 23%, and Asia’s share rose from 24% to 32%. Within Asia, R&D spending in China grew at an astounding 20% annual pace – twice the country’s GDP growth rate – and by 2009 China had surpassed Japan to become the world’s second-largest investor in R&D. Spending on R&D also grew rapidly – about 10% annually – in South Korea.