A Chinese worker processes steel at a factory in Qingdao city, East China's Shandong province, July 1, 2016. [Photo/IC]

BEIJING - China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has begun using a new method of calculating GDP that it says "better reflects the contribution of innovation to economic growth."

Research and development expenditure that can bring economic benefit to companies will no longer be calculated as intermediate consumption, but as fixed capital formation, the NBS said in a statement.

It will use the method for future GDP calculations, and has also recalculated all the figures dating back to 1952.

Recorded GDP growth rates have changed slightly as a result. For instance, the growth rate for 2015 remained at 6.9 percent, revised up by 0.04 percentage point.