China has revised the way it calculates Gross Domestic Product to bring calculations for the value of its goods and services more in line with global standards set by the United Nations and other world organizations. That was the word from the National Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday.

China is changing its way of measuring economic growth by adding research and development spending into its calculations. The most immediate effect is that it has increased the value of GDP, as the value of 2015 GDP was revised up by 1.3 percent. But it has only slightly affected annual growth rates.

"This reform is aimed at recognizing the role of R&D in supporting economic growth. This will encourage local companies to focus more on the volume and quality of their research spending," said Cheng Zilin, director dept. of national accounts, NBS.

R&D spending that brings about economic benefits for companies will be calculated as fixed capital formation, rather than intermediate consumption. Experts say that will increase the role of the secondary industry in overall GDP, as the sector is most heavily invested in research. However, an official says not all spending counts.

"The spending that did not bring about economic benefits will still be regarded as intermediate consumption. So this requires companies to improve the quality of their R&D," he said.

China will report second-quarter growth figures on July 15th. So, will the new measure affect that number?

"This will not have a big influence on GDP growth rate. According to our calculations, the new measure will lift the seasonal growth speed by about 0.04 percentage points. So this will not fundamentally change our assessment of future economic trends," said Sheng Laiyun, spokesman National Bureau of Statistics.

China also is studying new ways to assess the economic contributions from industries seen as part of the 'new economy', such as biotech firms and online retailers. The country aims to boost its R&D spending as a share of GDP to 2.5 percent by 2020.