In the first half of the year, research and development investment by A-share listed companies reached a new level, with the entire market exceeding 810 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.27%, and a growth rate nearly 2 percentage points higher than the same period last year; The overall R&D intensity is 2.33%, with a slight increase compared to the same period last year. This set of data not only highlights the innovative background of listed companies, but also marks the shift of innovation from "optional actions" to "survival necessities", becoming a strong engine driving China's industry to transition towards "smart manufacturing" and "creation". The value of an engine depends not only on its horsepower, but also on its directional accuracy and endurance. Nowadays, the research and development practices of listed companies are transitioning from scale growth to quality and efficiency improvement, unleashing deeper momentum in addressing innovation pain points. The continuous increase in research and development investment by listed companies is equivalent to building a "capital base" for industrial upgrading. In the past, due to long research and development cycles, high risks, and uncertain returns, many companies held a conservative attitude towards research and development. But now, listed companies are increasingly realizing that market competition is not simply about scale and cost, but about technology. R&D investment may seem like spending money, but in reality, it is saving money for future competitiveness. By holding onto research and development, we also hold onto the initiative of industrial upgrading. Behind the R&D investment of over 810 billion yuan, there is a solid strategic shift by the enterprise, no longer treating R&D as a "spending or not spending money", but as a "bottom line that must be kept". This consensus of "daring to invest money and willing to invest money" has made technological innovation no longer a castle in the air, and solid financial support has laid a solid foundation for the industry to transition from "Made in China" to "Created in China". What is more noteworthy is that the growth of R&D investment is shifting from "focusing on one point and exerting effort" to "building a system and laying out the overall situation", injecting "synergy" into innovation momentum and enabling efforts to be directed towards one place. From the data, in the first half of the year, the R&D intensity of the Growth Enterprise Market, Science and Technology Innovation Board, and Beijing Stock Exchange were 4.89%, 11.78%, and 4.63%, respectively, highlighting their technological attributes. Strategic emerging industries and high-tech manufacturing industries have demonstrated innovative effects, with R&D intensity higher than the overall by 3.29 percentage points and 4.44 percentage points, respectively. 113 companies in the entire market have invested over 1 billion yuan in research and development, and 926 companies have a research and development intensity exceeding 10%. This R&D pattern of "leading by leaders and collaboration among small and medium-sized enterprises" has made innovation no longer a solitary struggle, but a synergistic effect of "1+1 GT; 2" has been formed, promoting industrial upgrading from local breakthroughs to overall leaps. However, in order for R&D investment to truly become a sustainable engine for innovation and industrial upgrading, it is necessary to solve the problem of "heavy investment and light conversion". From the semi annual report data, it can be seen that although some listed companies have high R&D investment, their patent conversion rates are still low, and a large number of R&D achievements are "dormant" in the laboratory, unable to be turned into actual productivity. The root of the problem lies in the fact that the enterprise has not established a closed-loop mechanism from research and development to transformation and industrialization. On the one hand, the research and development direction is disconnected from market demand, and many scientific research projects only focus on "technically feasible" while ignoring "market needs"; On the other hand, the lack of a professional achievement transformation team makes it difficult to bridge the "last mile" from the laboratory to the production line. This requires enterprises to establish a smooth mechanism for transforming research and development achievements, so that the value of R&D investment can truly be realized. Through the observation of the semi annual report, the R&D investment of over 810 billion yuan is not only a reflection of the innovation determination of listed companies, but also the confidence of China's industrial upgrading. But we also need to be aware that the growth of R&D investment is only the "starting point", not the "end point". In the future, only by continuing to promote R&D investment from scale growth to quality and efficiency improvement, from single point breakthroughs to systematic layout, and from heavy investment to heavy transformation, can R&D investment truly become an "incubator" for technological innovation and an "accelerator" for industrial upgrading. This may also be the more anticipated future behind the over 810 billion yuan R&D investment. (New Society)