BEIJING -- China's listed firms have ramped up spending on research and development (R&D) last year as both emerging and traditional industries invest heavily for long-term growth, China Securities Journal reported.

As of 7:00 pm Monday, 1,193 listed companies on the A-share market have disclosed their R&D spending in financial reports for 2019, which amounted to 420.1 billion yuan (about $59 billion), the report cited data from financial information service provider Wind.

The figure marked a year-on-year increase of 21.88 percent.

In particular, 189 companies saw R&D spending rise over 50 percent, while 75 reported growth of more than 100 percent.

Computer equipment and application, biological products, telecom equipment as well as medical devices are among the sectors that reported robust growth in R&D spending, the data showed.

Besides the emerging industries that rely heavily on high R&D input to sharpen their competitiveness, traditional industries have also increased expenditure in the area, the report noted.

While high R&D spending may affect profits in the short-term, they will be conducive to growth in the long term, said Fu Lichun, an analyst with Northeast Securities.