Abstract: In order to make innovation the first driving force for development and build an innovative country, it is undoubtedly necessary to require the active participation of enterprises as the main players in the market, and encourage enterprises to increase their R&D investments. After 40 years of reform and opening up, the market economy system in today’s China has been built and is improving, the level of corporate R&D investment is the effect of many factors. According to the analysis of the existing literatures, the impact on corporate R&D investment mainly comes from two aspects: one is the government’s direct R&D investment, preferential tax policies and financial development at the macro level, the other is the characteristics of the top management team of enterprises, the company’s incentives for executives, and the capital structure, etc., at the micro level. In order to further improve the R&D investment level of Chinese enterprises, it is necessary to improve the macro management policies of current R&D investment and optimize the corporate governance mechanisms and management systems.

Key words: government R&D subsidies; tax incentives; micro-characteristics; corporate R&D investment