China second only to US in research

Koji

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China second only to US in research-Thomson Reuters | Markets | Markets News | Reuters

WASHINGTON, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Chinese researchers have more than doubled their output of scientific papers and now are second only to the United States in terms of volume, according to a report from Thomson Reuters (TRI.N) (TRI.TO) released on Monday.

The research is heavily focused on materials and technology and shows China is poised to dominate several areas of industry, the report finds.

"China's comparative growth is striking, far outstripping that of the rest of the world," reads the report, available here

"And the curve seems to be showing only marginal signs of slowing, still heading to overtake the USA itself within the next decade."

Chinese researchers published 20,000 research papers in 1998. This ballooned to nearly 112,000 in 2008, the report found, with China passing Japan, Britain and Germany in terms of annual output.

During the same time U.S. researchers increased output from 265,000 to 340,000 publications a year, a gain of around 30 percent.

Chinese research is concentrated in the physical sciences and technology, especially materials science, chemistry and physics.

"China's grip on innovative materials is likely to have far-reaching effects. It is difficult to see developments in industrial sectors that draw on these technologies that will not directly or indirectly depend on the knowledge coming out of China's research," the report reads.

"If China's research growth remains this rapid and substantial, European and North American institutions will want to be part of it," Jonathan Adams, director of research evaluation at Thomson Reuters, added in a statement.

The report, based on 10,500 journals monitored by Thomson Reuters, parent company of Reuters, notes that China has more than 1,700 standard institutions of higher education.

"Since the Chinese economic reform started in 1978, China has emerged from a poor developing country to become the second-largest economy in the world after the United States of America," the report reads.

"Already, more than half of the nation's technologies, including atomic energy, space science, high-energy physics, biology, computer science, and information technology, have reached or are close to a recognizable international level of achievement."

Other high-growth areas for China, according to the report, include agricultural sciences, immunology, microbiology, and molecular biology and genetics.

The United States is the biggest international collaborator with China, with 39,000 Chinese papers suggesting collaboration with U.S. researchers, or 8.9 percent of China's total. Japanese collaborations came next with 3 percent.
 

AkhandBharat

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Global Innovation Index rankings (2009) for your perusal.

Rank ↓ Country ↓ Overall ↓ Innovation Inputs ↓ Innovation Performance ↓
1 South Korea 2.26 1.75 2.55
2 United States 1.80 1.28 2.16
3 Japan 1.79 1.16 2.25
4 Sweden 1.64 1.25 1.88
5 Netherlands 1.55 1.40 1.55
6 Canada 1.42 1.39 1.32
7 United Kingdom 1.42 1.33 1.37
8 Germany 1.12 1.05 1.09
9 France 1.12 1.17 0.96
10 Australia 1.02 0.89 1.05
11 Spain 0.93 0.83 0.95
12 Belgium 0.86 0.85 0.79
13 China 0.73 0.07 1.32
14 Italy 0.21 0.16 0.24
15 India 0.06 0.14 -0.02
16 Russia -0.09 -0.02 -0.16
17 Mexico -0.16 0.11 -0.42
18 Turkey -0.21 0.15 -0.55
19 Indonesia -0.57 -0.63 -0.46
20 Brazil -0.59 -0.62 -0.51

Global_Innovation_Index
 

Koji

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The innovation index incorporates translational research as well. Since China is a relatively new comer on the research stage, it has yet have the time to convert their basic science research into actual products. This will change with time.
 

AkhandBharat

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Lets talk when that happens. Churning out research papers is a modicum at best of research and development. Patents granted on the other hand are more indicative.
 

Koji

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Lets talk when that happens. Churning out research papers is a modicum at best of research and development. Patents granted on the other hand are more indicative.
Having one predisposes to the other. A strong scientific core is certainly beneficial and has helped them to achieve innovative parity with many European countries (as shown by your index).
 

Koji

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Try looking at the ranking for ALL nations, and not just for large nations. There you'll see a better scope of things :thank_you2:
 

AkhandBharat

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Having one predisposes to the other. A strong scientific core is certainly beneficial and has helped them to achieve innovative parity with many European countries (as shown by your index).
1) Quantity of research papers published is not indicative of a strong scientific core, because it in no way gives out the quality of innovative research published which can propel a country ahead in scientific advancements.

2) Achieving parity with most European countries does not mean China is second only to US as there are asian countries in the list that rank significantly higher than China.

3) Patents are not just for innovative products based on scientific advancements.
 
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much of this is research done by American companies in China. Chinese count it as something they have done when in reality USA has funded it and owns all patent and intellectual property rights, the research can be done cheaper in China so these numbers are misleading it is not independent Chinese research in most cases but US collaborations.
 

Koji

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IF you read the article, then you'll clearly see that it STATES..

"hinese researchers have more than doubled their output of scientific papers and now are second only to the United States in terms of volume, according to a report from Thomson Reuters (TRI.N) (TRI.TO) released on Monday.

The research is heavily focused on materials and technology and shows China is poised to dominate several areas of industry, the report finds.

"China's comparative growth is striking, far outstripping that of the rest of the world," reads the report, available here."

Passing Britain, Germany, and Japan in research in no small feat and should be appreciated.
 

Koji

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much of this is research done by American companies in China. Chinese count it as something they have done when in reality USA has funded it and owns all patent and intellectual property rights, the research can be done cheaper in China so these numbers are misleading it is not independent Chinese research in most cases but US collaborations.
False, the report has incorporated foreign involvement:

"The United States is the biggest international collaborator with China, with 39,000 Chinese papers suggesting collaboration with U.S. researchers, or 8.9 percent of China's total. Japanese collaborations came next with 3 percent."
 

qilaotou

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1) Quantity of research papers published is not indicative of a strong scientific core, because it in no way gives out the quality of innovative research published which can propel a country ahead in scientific advancements.

2) Achieving parity with most European countries does not mean China is second only to US as there are asian countries in the list that rank significantly higher than China.
Well said. As a Chinese I don't think its something to be proud of. Most Chinese companies invest less than 5% on their innovative R&Ds. It's really a shame!
 
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False, the report has incorporated foreign involvement:

"The United States is the biggest international collaborator with China, with 39,000 Chinese papers suggesting collaboration with U.S. researchers, or 8.9 percent of China's total. Japanese collaborations came next with 3 percent."
so with all this research being done how come nothing has been produced?? South Korea and Japan both have less research in numbers but innovate much more in fields like electronics and semiconductors.
 

Koji

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so with all this research being done how come nothing has been produced?? South Korea and Japan both have less research in numbers but innovate much more in fields like electronics and semiconductors.
Because we have had the time to convert basic research into translational research. Like I said, China is a relative new comer to the research field.
 

redragon

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very informative, thank you very much Koji.
China has a huge potential market, if it can develope more new products, it will be non-stopable. China has a lot to learn from Japan, especially the spirit of seriousness in doing things.
China and Japan should really work out a proper way for the mutual relationship, so both party can benefit from that for long term time horizon, after all, countries in estern asia share a lot common value and couture.
 

dineshchaturvedi

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China is investing on R&D there is no doubt about it. I have doubts about the output, I do not think they will be leaders soon. Other countries have 100 years of experience which cannot be overtaken easily.
 

bengalraider

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As much of the Chinese population moves to cities and china goes through and urbanization boom it is but natural for trends like this to manifest themselves. urban educated Chinese would want to increase their own and their children's education levels hence the rise in no's of researchers and research papers.However that does not change the fact that much of the research is plagiarized as competition and peer pressure gets the better of students.China is also investing heavily in education infrastructure in order to build a better trained workforce and is poise to lead the world in No. of researchers by 2015. the CCP has invested far more heavily in infrastructure related to education than any competing economy in the last decade, this is part of the CCP's plan to take the nation forward into the 21st century as a rising global power in terms of high technology.However this investment is highly skewed and some regions get far more investment than others this leads to migration and widens the social divide, there is also the question of high technology jobs china is churning out engineers and doctors at a far faster rate than it can afford to find jobs for them.
 

jakojako777

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"most of", "best of" nations

I don't want to impose or sound hostile, but Indo-Russian cooperation can make
squeeze in Russia and India in that restricted club of "most of", "best of" nations.
With joined forces they would easily match China and even start to catch up on USA.:viannen_10:

 

prahladh

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I would like people to note difference between papers that appear in conference, scientific journals, and lastly eligible for patents. Patents in my opinion should be given the high priority.
 

no smoking

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I don't want to impose or sound hostile, but Indo-Russian cooperation can make
squeeze in Russia and India in that restricted club of "most of", "best of" nations.
With joined forces they would easily match China and even start to catch up on USA.:viannen_10:

The problem is after almost 60 years india-russia cooperation, india still lag behind in most of research fields. I don't how russia will help india leap into advanced country.
 

Koji

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The problem is after almost 60 years india-russia cooperation, india still lag behind in most of research fields. I don't how russia will help india leap into advanced country.
Not to mention that Chinese-Russian ties are close as well.
 

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