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  • NATURE INDEX

Could China’s cautious new research strategy stifle its science-leadership ambitions?

The era of rapid expansion is giving way to a more risk-aware approach, and students and researchers are feeling the effects.
By
  1. Futao Huang

    1. Futao Huang is a professor at the Research Institute for Higher Education, Hiroshima University, Japan.

In 2018, I argued that China’s meteoric growth in research output masked deeper structural issues, including inconsistent research quality and a ‘publish or perish’ academic culture. Seven years on, that picture has changed.

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-03492-9

Nature Index’s news and supplement content is editorially independent of its publisher, Springer Nature. For more information about Nature Index, see the homepage.

References

  1. Liang, H., Zhao, K., & Li, J. J. High. Educ. Policy Mgmt. 47, 473–489 (2025).

    Article  Google Scholar 

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Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

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