According to a report by Dongbi Data on January 11, the number of researchers in China is leading the world , surpassing the United States. The report stated that the number of top scientists in the United States decreased from 36,599 in 2020 to 31,781 in 2024. As a result, the proportion of American scientists in the global talent pool also decreased from 33% to 27%.

Meanwhile, the number of China's top scientists will increase from 18,805 in 2020 to 32,511 in 2024, corresponding to a proportion of the global talent pool from 17% to 28%. In China today, the National Academy of Sciences alone has 3,615 of the world's top scientists. This number far exceeds Harvard University (1,683) and Stanford University (1,208).

Based on this data, along with previous similar studies, it shows a strong shift in the scientific balance between the US and China in recent years. Previously, the 2023 report of the Chinese Academy of Science and Technology Information also pointed out that the country contributed 1/3 of the articles published in the most prestigious international scientific journals in 2022. This is the first time that China has surpassed the US to take the top spot globally.

Recently, Nature magazine even confirmed that nearly half of the world's current research has the participation of leading Chinese scientists. In addition, according to an assessment by the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information in October 2024, China's scientific achievements are superior in terms of quantity compared to the US and Europe.

According to SCMP , to serve the objective purpose of this research, the Dongbi Data team of authors collected and analyzed more than 40,000 highly cited scientific articles published in the period 2020-2024 in 129 leading international academic journals in many fields.

Based on the results of this study, Professor Ngo Dang Thanh - founder of Dongbi Data, currently a lecturer at Shenzhen University (China) also commented that the global science and technology sector is undergoing a strong shift: "In the past 5 years, the picture of high-level science and technology talent has changed significantly. China and the US still dominate, but in two opposite trends".

The increase in the number of top Chinese scientists in recent years reflects the country's investment ineducation , research and technology development. Accordingly, the Chinese government has always prioritized building domestic research capacity, through financial support policies and developing modern infrastructure with large-scale investment.

Conversely, the decline in the number of scientists in the US may be related to a number of factors such as: research budget cuts, fierce international competition and restrictive immigration policies that make it difficult to attract global talent.

In addition to the US and China, the report also shows that the number of top scientists in Germany remains relatively stable in the 2020-2024 period. Meanwhile, the number of scientists in the UK and France tends to decrease. Japan and Australia are also witnessing a decline in both the number of scientists and the proportion in the global talent pool.

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