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The Nature Index tracks primary research articles from 178 applied, health, natural and social sciences journals, across many different publishers, chosen by an independent group of researchers. The Nature Index provides absolute Count of primary research articles and fractional Share counts of author contribution to articles. The positions in the table below reflect China's position overall, regionally, and in subject areas based on their Share. Each position links to the corresponding table where China is listed.
Position by research output Share
Position by research output Share in subject areas
Research
China has the following research output in the current window (1 June 2025 - 30 May 2026) of the Nature Index. Click on Count to view a list of articles representing the corresponding Share value.
Overall research output
| Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall | 60271 | 53583.62 |
Overall Count and Share for 'China' based on the 12-month time frame mentioned above.
Research outputs by subject area
Note: Hover over the donut graph to view the Share for each subject.
Leading research topics
In the Current Index (12-month rolling window), China published the most articles in these research topics. Learn more about Nature Research Intelligence Topics.
| Topics | Count | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Physical Chemistry | 5708 | 5239.43 |
| Chemical Engineering | 5482 | 5134.01 |
| Macromolecular and Materials Chemistry | 3773 | 3469.30 |
| Organic Chemistry | 3268 | 3073.86 |
| Electrical Engineering | 2581 | 2399.69 |
| Oncology and Carcinogenesis | 1829 | 1592.90 |
| Clinical Sciences | 1687 | 1423.31 |
| Analytical Chemistry | 1334 | 1259.60 |
| Nanotechnology | 1325 | 1204.97 |
Share output for the past 5 years
| Subject area or journal group | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 16810.94 | 20221.74 | 23579.07 | 43117.19 | 52767.60 |
| Applied sciences | 3735.43 | 4582.21 | 5801.96 | 15137.90 | 18829.93 |
| Health sciences | 2268.97 | 3264.17 | 3954.54 | 6000.33 | 7328.83 |
| Natural sciences | 10762.11 | 12319.47 | 13740.53 | 20585.36 | 25328.15 |
| Biological sciences | 1712.70 | 2067.98 | 2368.52 | 3921.01 | 4678.55 |
| Chemistry | 6154.41 | 6924.01 | 7755.51 | 10787.83 | 13536.73 |
| Earth & environmental sciences | 1067.54 | 1349.40 | 1439.92 | 2904.54 | 3458.63 |
| Physical sciences | 1827.46 | 1978.09 | 2176.58 | 2971.97 | 3654.24 |
| Social sciences | 44.44 | 54.88 | 82.04 | 1392.61 | 1280.69 |
| Nature & Science | 147.74 | 187.22 | 203.90 | 273.83 | 295.16 |
Country/territory benchmarking
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Collaboration
In many cases, the highest quality science comes from collaborating. Nature Index collaborations highlight fruitful collaborations that lead to high quality research around the world. The table and charts below highlight the leading collaborators with China.
Collaboration by percentage of Share
Note: Hover over the graph to view collaboration by percentage of Share.
Top 10 collaborators with China by Share
Note: Hover over the bars to view details about each institution's Share.
| Collaborating country/territory | Collaborators' Share | Collaboration Score |
|---|---|---|
| United States of America (USA) | 3397.47 / 1846.25 | 5243.72 |
| United Kingdom (UK) | 1511.95 / 584.73 | 2096.68 |
| Germany | 1161.17 / 577.32 | 1738.50 |
| Australia | 1092.62 / 427.81 | 1520.43 |
| Singapore | 952.25 / 439.80 | 1392.05 |
| Japan | 800.45 / 361.92 | 1162.36 |
| Canada | 557.26 / 236.96 | 794.23 |
| South Korea | 504.10 / 237.13 | 741.23 |
| France | 477.45 / 217.93 | 695.38 |
| Sweden | 352.99 / 130.11 | 483.10 |
View historical country/territory collaboration
Top 10 institutions from China by Share
| Institution | Count | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) | 12766 | 3673.21 |
| 2. Zhejiang University (ZJU) | 3365 | 1250.09 |
| 3. Tsinghua University | 4168 | 1215.09 |
| 4. Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) | 3370 | 1188.87 |
| 5. University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) | 3739 | 1156.95 |
| 6. Peking University (PKU) | 4513 | 1125.43 |
| 7. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS) | 5071 | 1042.80 |
| 8. Nanjing University (NJU) | 2747 | 989.69 |
| 9. Fudan University | 2796 | 872.88 |
| 10. Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU) | 2244 | 872.87 |
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