The Economist has always been a very die-hard anti-China media, and recently published an article "China has become a technological powerhouse", which is very rare, even unprecedented, but it may also be the first step for the West to recognize China's rise.
What evidence is there that China is now the world's top scientific power?
First, China publishes more high-impact scientific papers each year than the United States and the European Union as a whole, including the Nature Index, which is almost impossible to manipulate.
Comparison of the number of high-quality papers in China, the United States and Europe
China's rise in this dimension has been remarkably rapid: "In 2003, the United States published 20 times as many high-impact papers as China...... By 2013, the U.S. published about four times as many top papers as China, and from 2022 onwards, China has surpassed the U.S. and the entire European Union, according to the latest released data."
In terms of research output, Chinese universities "currently have six Chinese universities or institutions in the top 10 in the world (according to the Leiden Rankings) and seven Chinese universities or institutions in the Nature Index Rankings". Again, this is just the result of a generation's efforts.
Comparison of sub-disciplines
In terms of disciplines, China leads 8 out of 14 major scientific disciplines, including mathematics and physics. In disciplines such as materials science, chemistry or engineering, China is completely dominant, accounting for 70 to 80 percent of all high-impact papers published.
Comparison of R&D spending in China and the United States
China has also surpassed the United States in spending more on university and government research, and spending is growing at an alarming rate: "Since 2000, Chinese spending on R&D has increased 16-fold" and shows no signs of stopping, while spending in the United States has all but stagnated.
When looking at talent and education, there are two key points:
- Contrary to popular belief, China is a net importer of scientists: "Since the late 2000s, more scientists have returned to China than left".
- China is training more scientists. For example, in 2020, Chinese universities awarded seven times as many engineering degrees as the United States. By 2025, Chinese universities are expected to produce nearly twice as many Ph.D. graduates in science and technology as in the United States.
The Economist is "rarely right" to point out that it is time for the West to heed this new reality. Today, Western scientists cite papers from their Chinese counterparts much less frequently than their Chinese counterparts cite papers from their Western counterparts, and very few Western scientists visit, work, or study in China to learn from China.
The article concludes with a quote from S. Marginson, professor of higher education at the University of Oxford: "I think it is very unwise to make an assertion about the limits of the Chinese miracle, because so far there is no limit to the Chinese miracle." ”
After reading the whole article, I have to say that such an argument is too far from the position of The Economist in the past, as if it were a different person.
Hopefully, this is just the beginning.