China leads high-tech research in 80% of critical fields: report. Aggressive investment puts country far ahead of U.S., Europe, Japan

[Beijingwalker]

China leads high-tech research in 80% of critical fields: report​

Aggressive investment puts country far ahead of U.S., Europe, Japan

Military vehicles during a parade in Beijing carry hypersonic missiles, one of many high-tech fields where China leads the world. © Reuters
KAORU TAKATSUKI, Nikkei staff writerSeptember 15, 2023 02:28 JST

TOKYO -- China leads advanced technological research in 80% of critical fields including hypersonics and underwater drones, a report from an Australian think tank shows, as the country pulls ahead of the U.S., Europe and Japan through state-led investment.

Out of 23 technologies analyzed by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), China leads research in 19. The rankings are based on the 10% most cited academic papers among 2.2 million published between 2018 and 2022, with a focus on fields considered key to the trilateral security partnership among the U.S., the U.K. and Australia, or AUKUS.

The U.S. leads in the remaining four technologies.

China accounts for 73.3% of high-impact research output for hypersonic detection, tracking and characterization, far ahead of the U.S., U.K. and Germany.

Hypersonic missiles, which fly at more than five times the speed of sound, are seen as a potentially game-changing weapon. China is developing hypersonic missiles that are faster and have less predictable trajectories in order to penetrate enemies' missile defense networks.

The ASPI report says there is a high risk of China dominating in the technology, considering how far it is ahead of its competitors and the concentration of institutions producing high-impact research in the country.

In autonomous underwater vehicles, China accounts for 56.9% of important research. Second-ranked U.S. accounts for just 9.5%.

Underwater drones incorporate a variety of cutting-edge technology, including pressure-resistant shells, unmanned navigation technology and communications systems. Based on the ASPI report, China also leads in advanced underwater wireless communications and in sonar.

Competition between the U.S. and China is closer in areas like artificial intelligence and quantum technology. Of the six AI-related fields, China has the lead in four, including drones, while the U.S. ranks first in advanced integrated circuit design and fabrication.

The countries each leads two of the four quantum technology fields. The U.S. has a narrow lead in highly sensitive quantum sensors, which are expected to have applications for quantum computing and medicine, while China has the advantage in post-quantum cryptography.

Beijing is showing that it is interested in gaining an advantage in critical technologies relevant to national security, according to ASPI Executive Director Justin Bassi.

The race between China and the West in critical technology is only intensifying.

China is promoting domestic high-tech industries through the Made in China 2025 initiative, unveiled under President Xi Jinping in 2015. It aims to become one of the world's leading manufacturing powerhouses by 2049, which marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

The initiative focuses on 10 fields in particular, such as new information technology including semiconductors, high-tech ships and numerical control tools for advanced robots.

Concerned by China's technological advancements, the U.S. under former President Donald Trump moved to cut Beijing off in fields like high-speed 5G communications.

Restrictions have strengthened further under current President Joe Biden. In August, Biden signed an executive order to restrict U.S. investment in China in fields like cutting-edge semiconductors, AI and quantum technology.

According to the ASPI report, Japan placed in the top 10 countries in just seven fields, including quantum computing and post-quantum cryptography.

Bassi stressed the importance of global cooperation to counter China's dominance, such as through frameworks like the Group of Seven, the Quad dialogue and AUKUS.

The G7 leaders' communique from the Hiroshima summit in May called for the circulation of talent in cutting-edge technology. Leaders of the Quad, which is comprised of the U.S., Japan, Australia and India, have also agreed to promote investment in critical areas such as quantum technology.

China leads high-tech research in 80% of critical fields: report

Aggressive investment puts country far ahead of U.S., Europe, Japan

asia.nikkei.com

 

[Beijingwalker]

China leads US in global competition for key emerging technology, Year-long study finds China leads in 37 of 44 areas it tracked​

Reuters
March 2, 20231:14 PM GMT+8

SYDNEY, March 2 (Reuters) - China has a "stunning lead" in 37 out of 44 critical and emerging technologies as Western democracies lose a global competition for research output, a security think tank said on Thursday after tracking defence, space, energy and biotechnology.

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) said its study showed that, in some fields, all of the world's top 10 research institutions are based in China.

The study, funded by the United States State Department, found the United States was often second-ranked, although it led global research in high-performance computing, quantum computing, small satellites and vaccines.

"Western democracies are losing the global technological competition, including the race for scientific and research breakthroughs," the report said, urging greater research investment by governments.

China had established a "stunning lead in high-impact research" under government programs.

The report called for democratic nations to collaborate more often to create secure supply chains and "rapidly pursue a strategic critical technology step-up".

ASPI tracked the most-cited scientific papers, which it said are the most likely to result in patents. China's surprise breakthrough in hypersonic missiles in 2021 would have been identified earlier if China's strong research had been detected, it said.

"Over the past five years, China generated 48.49% of the world's high-impact research papers into advanced aircraft engines, including hypersonics, and it hosts seven of the world's top 10 research institutions," it said.

In the fields of photonic sensors and quantum communication, China's research strength could result in it "going dark" to the surveillance of western intelligence, including the "Five Eyes" of Britain, United States, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, it said.

National talent flows of researchers were also tracked and monopoly risks were identified.

China was likely to emerge with a monopoly in 10 fields including synthetic biology, where it produces one-third of all research, as well as electric batteries, 5G, and nano manufacturing.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences, a government research body, ranked first or second in most of the 44 technologies tracked, which spanned defence, space, robotics, energy, the environment, biotechnology, artificial intelligence (AI), advanced materials and quantum technology.

China was bolstering its research with knowledge gained overseas, and the data showed one-fifth of the top Chinese researchers were trained in a Five Eyes country, it said.

The study recommended visa screening programs to limit illegal technology transfers and instead favour international collaboration with security allies.

Australia's universities have said they are complying with foreign influence laws designed to stop the illegal transfer of technology to China, but also noted international collaboration is an integral part of university research.

https://www.reuters.com/technology/china-leads-us-global-competition-key-emerging-technology-study-says-2023-03-02/

 

[Beijingwalker]

China; a world leader in technology​

Beijing surpasses the US and other Western countries by leading the world in 37 out of 44 technology fields.

 

[BlueSky]

China leads in many field of technology. But they need to play catch up a lot in chip manufacturing technology.

 

[Beijingwalker]

China leads in many field of technology. But they need to play catch up a lot in chip manufacturing technology.

True, it's one of China's weaknesses, in the past we relied almost solely on foreign imports cause no companies had bothered to invest time and money in developing them, they can just easily buy them at a pretty low price in the world market, chips making was simply not a lucrative business.
Now China learned a lesson and is working on to catch up.

 

[ety]

China leads in many field of technology. But they need to play catch up a lot in chip manufacturing technology.

It was a strategic mistake for China to not develop chip industry fully before.

 

[Developereo]

China leads in many field of technology. But they need to play catch up a lot in chip manufacturing technology.

The race for innovation is still wide open: from optical chips to analog AI chips to 3D ICs.

 

[Beijingwalker]

China leads global rankings in high-quality research papers, according to latest Nature Index
Last Updated: 2025-03-10 14:51

The latest Nature Index rankings (covering the period from December 1, 2023, to November 30, 2024) were recently released by the internationally renowned academic publisher Nature. The rankings reveal China's dominance in high-quality research output, with nine of the world's top ten academic institutions coming from China. Harvard University remains the only non-Chinese institution in the top ten. In discipline-based rankings, Chinese institutions performed particularly well in Chemistry, Physical sciences, and Earth & environmental sciences.

The Nature Index is an open database of author affiliations and institutional relationships. The Index tracks contributions to research articles published in high-quality natural-science and health-science journals, chosen based on reputation by an independent group of researchers.

China's Universities Take the Lead

When the first edition of the Nature Index 2014 Global were published on November 13, 2014, only eight Chinese institutions made it into the global top 100. In contrast, the latest rankings highlight China's significant progress, with nine Chinese universities securing spots in the global top ten and 14 making it into the top 20. In the top 100, Chinese universities lead with 42 institutions, surpassing the U.S. (36 institutions) and the UK (four institutions).

Top 10 Academic Institutions in the Nature Index (Time frame: 1 December 2023 - 30 November 2024) Source: Nature

Globally, among the 5,173 academic institutions listed, China, the U.S., India, Japan, and Brazil account for 17.2%, 16.1%, 7.0%, 5.9%, and 2.7% of the total, respectively. The University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), Zhejiang University (ZJU), and Peking University (PKU) stood out, with USTC ranking second worldwide with a total paper count (Count) of 2,585 and a contribution share (Share) of 835.02—trailing only Harvard University (Count: 3,849, Share: 1,146.43).

The top ten global academic institutions in the latest Nature Index rankings are:
1.Harvard University
2.University of Science and Technology of China (USTC)
3.Zhejiang University (ZJU)
4.Peking University (PKU)
5.University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS)
6.Tsinghua University
7.Nanjing University (NJU)
8.Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU)
9.Fudan University
10.Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU)

Beyond academic institution rankings, the Nature Index also categorizes rankings by institution type, including academic institutions, government research institutions, corporations, health care institutions, and NPO/NGO.

It is worth noting that in the Institution tables, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), classified as a government research institution, has consistently held the top position worldwide for several years. In the latest evaluation period, CAS recorded a Count of 9,248 and a Share of 2,744.97, significantly surpassing Harvard University, which had a Count of 3,855 and a Share of 1,147.45.

Top 10 Institutions in the Nature Index (Time frame: 1 December 2023 - 30 November 2024) Source: Nature

Strong Performance in Fundamental Sciences

In subject-based rankings, which include Biological sciences, Chemistry, Earth & environmental sciences, Health sciences, and Physical sciences, China has demonstrated significant advantages. Chinese institutions dominate the top ten in Chemistry, with Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS), Zhejiang University (ZJU), Nanjing University (NJU), Tsinghua University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), Peking University (PKU), Sichuan University (SCU), Fudan University occupying all ten spots.

Top 10 in Chemistry in the Nature Index (Time frame: 1 December 2023 - 30 November 2024) Source: Nature

Similarly, China holds eight of the top ten positions in both Physical sciences and Earth & environmental sciences. The global top ten in Physical sciences include Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), Tsinghua University, Max Planck Society, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS), Zhejiang University (ZJU), Peking University (PKU), Nanjing University (NJU), Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS).

Top 10 in Physical sciences in the Nature Index (Time frame: 1 December 2023 - 30 November 2024) Source: Nature

In Earth & environmental sciences, the global ranking includes Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Nanjing University (NJU), Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, Peking University (PKU), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS), Tongji University, Zhejiang University (ZJU), Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich), Tsinghua University.

Top 10 in Earth & environmental Sciences in the Nature Index (Time frame: 1 December 2023 - 30 November 2024) Source: Nature

 

[Beijingwalker]

In contrast, U.S. institutions continue to dominate Health sciences and Biological sciences, securing eight and seven spots in their respective top-ten lists. Harvard University has consistently ranked first in both fields for years. This divergence highlights differing research strategies between China and the U.S., with China excelling in engineering-oriented fundamental research while the U.S. remains a leader in biomedical and translational research. However, China is rapidly closing the gap, with CAS and Zhejiang University breaking into the global top ten in Biological sciences and Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU) making the top ten in Health sciences.

Top 10 in Health sciences in the Nature Index (Time frame: 1 December 2023 - 30 November 2024) Source: Nature

Editor's Note:

Count: where a Count of one is assigned to an institution or country/territory if one or more authors of the research article are from that institution or country/territory, regardless of how many co-authors there are from outside that institution or country/territory.

Share: an institution's or country/territory's Share takes into account the percentage of authors from that institution or country/territory and the number of affiliated institutions per article. For calculation of the Share, all authors are considered to have contributed equally to the article. The maximum combined Share for any article is 1.0.

China leads global rankings in high-quality research papers, according to latest Nature Index--China Economic Net

en.ce.cn

 

[FuturePAF]

China leads US in global competition for key emerging technology, Year-long study finds China leads in 37 of 44 areas it tracked​

Reuters
March 2, 20231:14 PM GMT+8

SYDNEY, March 2 (Reuters) - China has a "stunning lead" in 37 out of 44 critical and emerging technologies as Western democracies lose a global competition for research output, a security think tank said on Thursday after tracking defence, space, energy and biotechnology.

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) said its study showed that, in some fields, all of the world's top 10 research institutions are based in China.

The study, funded by the United States State Department, found the United States was often second-ranked, although it led global research in high-performance computing, quantum computing, small satellites and vaccines.

"Western democracies are losing the global technological competition, including the race for scientific and research breakthroughs," the report said, urging greater research investment by governments.

China had established a "stunning lead in high-impact research" under government programs.

The report called for democratic nations to collaborate more often to create secure supply chains and "rapidly pursue a strategic critical technology step-up".

ASPI tracked the most-cited scientific papers, which it said are the most likely to result in patents. China's surprise breakthrough in hypersonic missiles in 2021 would have been identified earlier if China's strong research had been detected, it said.

"Over the past five years, China generated 48.49% of the world's high-impact research papers into advanced aircraft engines, including hypersonics, and it hosts seven of the world's top 10 research institutions," it said.

In the fields of photonic sensors and quantum communication, China's research strength could result in it "going dark" to the surveillance of western intelligence, including the "Five Eyes" of Britain, United States, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, it said.

National talent flows of researchers were also tracked and monopoly risks were identified.

China was likely to emerge with a monopoly in 10 fields including synthetic biology, where it produces one-third of all research, as well as electric batteries, 5G, and nano manufacturing.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences, a government research body, ranked first or second in most of the 44 technologies tracked, which spanned defence, space, robotics, energy, the environment, biotechnology, artificial intelligence (AI), advanced materials and quantum technology.

China was bolstering its research with knowledge gained overseas, and the data showed one-fifth of the top Chinese researchers were trained in a Five Eyes country, it said.

The study recommended visa screening programs to limit illegal technology transfers and instead favour international collaboration with security allies.

Australia's universities have said they are complying with foreign influence laws designed to stop the illegal transfer of technology to China, but also noted international collaboration is an integral part of university research.

https://www.reuters.com/technology/china-leads-us-global-competition-key-emerging-technology-study-says-2023-03-02/

Of the 44 items, if China is leading 37, it looks like it could catch up 6 of the remaining 7, but in terms of vaccines, it will probably be the place China will be the most behind western tech.