Chinese Cities Soar in Science Ranking

The annual look at the world’s leading cities for research output in Nature Index journals released on November 20 shows China going from strength to strength. 

 

Ten out of the top 20 science cities, as determined by Nature, are now located in China, and so are numbers 21, 22, 23 and 64 on the 200-strong list – which is determined by share of output in the scientific journal over the year prior. 

 

Beijing retained its long-standing position as the top contributor, and was followed by Shanghai. According to the 2024 Nature Index Science Cities supplement, Shanghai even pushed New York City, USA into third place through strengthening its research and development in biopharmaceuticals, advanced materials and artificial intelligence.

 

Perhaps a more interesting development in the science cities data this year is the clear emergence of China’s provincial capitals. From Chengdu in the west, to Hefei in the east, these cities – lesser known in the West – are now rubbing shoulders in the top 30 with long-established scientific centers in Europe and North America”.

 

The rise of these locations as globally competitive centers for research is as much due to economics and politics as it is science, as China seeks to spread the impact of its knowledge and innovation far and wide. Many of these rapidly developing cities are playing a specialist role in key technology areas such as electric vehicles and solar energy. And their local goals are very much aligned to national strategies to bolster the country’s economic self-sufficiency, such as "Made in China 2025", a policy designed to shift the country towards knowledge-driven high-tech industries.

 

Even in the health sciences, an area where Chinese cities still lag behind their Western counterparts, there is evident progress. Within a decade, there is every chance that the leading Science Cities in this field – currently dominated by the dense academic–health-care–industry networks built up over many years in areas such as Boston, USA or London, UK – might be in China, too. 

 

And so, the Chinese cities in the top 20 are: Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing (no. 5), Guangzhou (no. 8), Wuhan (no. 9), Hangzhou (no. 13), Hefei (no. 15), Tianjin (no. 18), Hong Kong (no. 19) and Xi’an (no. 20). 

 

The only other two Asian cities that made the top 20 were Tokyo, Japan in 10th place, and Seoul, South Korea in 12th place.