China reclaims No 1 physics research spot from US as scientists fight it out: report

Research Fronts report assessing scientific activities and trends in major countries reveals intense rivalry as tech race heats up

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Physics research in China has taken back the top spot it had in 2022, after losing it to the US last year, according to latest Research Fronts report. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 8:19pm, 27 Nov 2024Updated: 8:35pm, 27 Nov 2024

China is once again the world No 1 in physics research after losing out to the United States last year, according to an annual Chinese report.

The “Research Fronts” report assesses the scientific activities and trends in major countries at a time of global competition for innovation and technological advancement.

The 2024 report was jointly released in Beijing on Wednesday by the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institutes of Science and Development (CASISD), the National Science Library of China, and global analytics company Clarivate.

Physics research in China, which ranked first in the world in 2022, had regained the top spot after losing it to the US last year, the report said.

Other top research fields for China were agricultural, plant and animal sciences; chemistry and materials sciences; and information sciences, according to the report.

The Research Fronts report is mainly based on data from Essential Science Indicators (ESI) – an analytical tool that covers a multidisciplinary selection of over 11,000 academic journals worldwide, and provides data for ranking authors, institutions, countries and journals.

Its tracking and analysis of highly influential and cited papers published in recent years identified 110 trending and 15 emerging research frontiers across 11 broad research categories, ranging from information science to clinical medicine.