CHINESE cities now dominate global science rankings, accounting for more than half of the world’s top 10 scientific research hubs for the first time, according to the latest Nature Index supplement. Beijing has retained its position as the leading global science city — a title it has held since 2016.

The newly released “Nature Index 2025 Science Cities” supplement shows that the number of Chinese cities in the global top 10 increased from five in 2023 to six in 2024, marking the first time China holds a majority.

The supplement draws on the Nature Index database, which tracks research articles published from 2015 to 2024.

The analysis uses “Share” — a fractional count that reflects an institution’s contribution to publications — as the primary metric. Time-series data are adjusted to 2024 levels, and each city’s total Share is the sum of contributions from all affiliated institutions within its boundaries.

According to the index, the world’s leading science cities are: Beijing, Shanghai, the New York metropolitan area, the Boston metropolitan area, Nanjing, Guangzhou, the San Francisco Bay Area, Wuhan, the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area, and Hangzhou.

The non-Chinese cities on the list are unanimously from the U.S.

Beijing maintained its top rank, increasing its adjusted Share by 9.14% between 2023 and 2024. Shanghai’s output rose even more sharply, by 20%.

Meanwhile, the combined adjusted Share of all U.S. cities in the top 10 declined.

Further analysis reveals that Chinese cities hold a strong advantage in chemistry, physical sciences, and earth and environmental sciences, leading the global rankings in all three fields.

Notably, Chinese cities claimed all top 10 positions in chemistry for the first time. In the other two subject areas, they secured six of the top 10 spots, with Beijing ranking first worldwide across all three domains.

(SD-Agencies)