China has maintained its top position from the previous year and further widened its lead in research output, according to the latest Nature Index Research Leaders on Wednesday.
"China’s contribution to world-class science is advancing so quickly that its lead over the US in the Nature Index database has multiplied by more than four times in the space of just one year, according to calendar-year data for 2024," read an article on the Nature Index’s official website.
It was only in 2023 that the US lost the top spot to China in the Research Leaders list, which ranks countries, territories, and institutions based on their contributions to papers in 145 high-quality health-sciences and natural-sciences journals, according to the article.
China’s adjusted share, which takes account of annual fluctuations in the volume of articles in the database year-on-year, jumped by 17.4 percent in the year to 2023. At the same time, the US’ adjusted Share plummeted by 10.1 percent, per the article.
At the institutional level, among the world’s top 10 institutions, eight are from China, with the exceptions being Harvard University (ranked 2nd) and Germany’s Max Planck Society (ranked 9th). The Chinese Academy of Sciences remains in the top spot. The University of Science and Technology of China ranks 3rd, while Zhejiang University has jumped from 10th to 4th, according to the report.
The other top 10 Chinese institutions are Peking University (5th), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (6th), Tsinghua University (7th), Nanjing University (8th), and Shanghai Jiao Tong University (10th). Compared with 2023, more Chinese institutions have entered the global top 50, increasing from 22 to 25.
"The data reflect a profound shift in the global research landscape," Simon Baker, chief editor of Nature Index, said: "China’s continued investment in science and technology is translating into rapid sustained growth in high-quality research output, which in areas such as physical sciences and chemistry is now far outstripping previously dominant Western nations, including the US."
原文地址：http://en.people.cn/n3/2025/0612/c90000-20326445.html