China casts collaboration net wider as research ties with US wane

As the proportion of Chinese research papers co-written with the US declines, it has begun expanding its collaboration network with smaller nations, particularly in the Middle East and Asia.

A new report, published by Clarivate, has found that China’s research economy has seen a dramatic increase in quality and its research is increasingly valued beyond its borders.

Drawing on data from the Web of Science citation index of scientific publications, the findings showed a fivefold acceleration in published research output from China between 2009 and 2021, far outpacing the US and European Union.

And the country has been expanding its network at the same time, increasing the number of countries it collaborates with from 164 in 2013 to 191 by 2022.

Clarivate said new collaborations generally involved developing countries, characterised by smaller researcher populations, across the Middle East and Asia.

China has also become the dominant research partner for Pakistan and Singapore.

However, the same period has been marked by a slowdown in its number of collaborations with the US, which fell from more than 40 per cent to represent about 30 per cent of all collaborations.

Japan’s share also decreased, although there were slight increases in the share of collaborations with Australia and the UK.

Jonathan Adams, chief scientist at the Institute for Scientific Information at Clarivate, said the notion that China’s research output is lagging in quality can be effectively dispelled.

“While the US remains a key international research partner, China is fostering closer collaboration with emerging research economies in the Middle East as well as many others,” he said.

“This underlines the importance of research investment as an aid to cultural diplomacy.” 

The paper also suggested that “collaboration parity” – where two countries account for the same proportion of each other’s collaborations – will be reached between the US and China within a few years.

Authors said the data suggests that China is relatively selective in its research collaborations – working more broadly with some countries, such as the US and Pakistan, and in more limited ways with others.

“The evolution of China’s research portfolio will be a continuing topic of interest for policymakers elsewhere,” the report says.

“Internationally collaborative research is impactful and often highly innovative.

“The potential for research in emerging green energy technologies could prove to be a major benefit stemming from China’s engagement in the Middle East, where funding for such initiatives is growing.”

At the same time, researchers discovered a shift in research quality within China, with the number of Highly Cited Researchers doubling to 1,169 between 2018 and 2022 – many of whom are based at globally renowned institutions such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

And they found that the country is diversifying beyond its traditional strengths in technology and physical sciences to focus on new areas such as biomolecular science.

patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com