A visitor (right) tries metaverse games at the 2021 International Digital Technology Exhibition and Tianyi Intelligent Ecological Expo in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, on Nov 11, 2021. (LI ZHIHAO / FOR CHINA DAILY)

BEIJING - China's major internet enterprises and related services companies saw their spending on research and development (R&D) increase faster in 2022, official data showed.

Last year, R&D spending of these firms totaled 77.18 billion yuan (about $11.45 billion), up 7.7 percent year-on-year, with the growth rate expanding 2.7 percentage points from that in 2021, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

In 2022, the companies raked in 141.5 billion yuan in profits, increasing by 3.3 percent year-on-year, while the combined business revenue of these enterprises eased 1.1 percent to about 1.46 trillion yuan from the previous year, said the ministry.

ALSO READ: China's internet sector R&D spending logs robust growth

Major internet companies and related services companies are those with an annual business revenue of at least 20 million yuan.