Chinese researchers are currently the most cited researchers in the world: Why does it worry the United States?

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

Research by Caroline Wagner, author, analyst and policy scholar at Ohio University, shows that Chinese researchers publish a large proportion of the world's most highly cited scientific articles, in fact more than researchers in any other country. As a result of this finding, Caroline herself wonders in an article published in The Conversation whether  the United States, a country which had traditionally pioneered science, should be concerned.

A good sign of Chinese "superiority" is that, as Wagner's article shows, in 2022 it was Chinese researchers who published the most scientific articles on artificial intelligence. Although a nation's "scientific prowess is somewhat difficult to quantify", there are several reliable metrics according to Wagner, such as the amount of money spent on research, the number of academic papers published, and the quality of those papers.

What is behind China's advances?
As the analyst explains, China's progress in this regard is no coincidence, but is the direct result of years of government policies dedicated to one goal: to lead in science and technology. Moreover, over the last few decades, the Asian country has made financial investments in increasing its research capabilities; it has been sending its students and researchers abroad and thus boosting its reputation in neighboring countries and on other continents. In fact, Wagner offers solid evidence: since 2000, more than five million Chinese students and academics have gone abroad to study. While many of them stay and work in the countries they go to, many others return to China to work in laboratories and technology companies.

The reality today is that "the quality of Chinese universities has dramatically improved, and they now produce the largest number of engineering PhDs in the world," says Caroline Wagner. It was in 2017 that Chinese researchers published more scientific articles than American researchers for the first time, and since then this trend has continued and does not seem to reverse.

The number of scientific articles published in academic journals by the United States and China over the past few years. Source: The Conversation / Web of Science.

"Western researchers did not take Chinese research seriously."
Despite producing large numbers of articles on a variety of topics, for the past two decades the work coming from the world's most populous country did not receive the attention it probably deserved, since Western countries - especially the United States - questioned the quality of such research. "To quantify the quality and valuation, my colleagues and I consulted citations and references. We were surprised to discover that, in 2019, Chinese authors published a large percentage of the world's most influential articles and three times more articles on artificial intelligence than American authors," says the author, who also emphasizes the "novelty and creativity" of Chinese articles.

Taking into account the above and proven evidence, it can be affirmed that China is no longer -if it ever was- a mere imitator of articles or a factory producing science of dubious quality, but represents a scientific power that is not afraid to match the United States or European countries, both in quality and quantity.

Now what? Why is there fear of Chinese success?
Caroline Wagner establishes a relationship between scientific capability and military and economic power. Having grown so much academically, there are American politicians and experts who have expressed "concern that China's scientific rise poses a threat." Wagner states that, in her opinion, some of these fears are justified, but "the United States should be aware that it can benefit from this situation by collaborating with the Asian country". She is thus in favor of interpreting the situation not only as a threat, but also as an opportunity for growth and cooperation between countries, including European countries.