London. For the first time, Chinese cities have secured more than half of the world’s top ten scientific research centers.
According to the ‘Nature Index 2025 Science Cities’ appendix, the number of top-ranked cities in China has increased from five in 2023 to six in 2024. With this, China has a majority in the top ten for the first time.
The report measures each city’s contribution based on scientific articles published between 2015 and 2024. This system, which uses an indicator called ‘share’, determines the overall ranking by summing the contributions made by all scientific institutions within a city.
The world’s top science cities, according to the index, include Beijing, Shanghai, the New York region, the Boston region, Nanjing, Guangzhou, the San Francisco Bay Area, Wuhan, the Baltimore-Washington region, and Hangzhou.
Beijing’s adjusted contribution increased by more than 9 percent between 2023 and 2024, while Shanghai achieved a significant increase of 20 percent. In contrast, the combined contribution of the top 10 US cities decreased, the report said.
The report concluded that China’s scientific leadership is expanding, while the US’s influence is gradually weakening.
Chinese cities are at the forefront of major fields such as chemistry, physics, and earth and environmental sciences. For the first time, China has taken the top 10 spot in chemistry, while Chinese cities occupy six spots each in the other two fields. Beijing is number one in the world in all three fields. Agency
