China has surpassed the United States as the largest contributor to natural science publications, demonstrating the country's expanding prominence in the world of academic study.

The Nature Index, which maintains data on author affiliations in 82 high-quality journals, discovered that Chinese writers are more productive than their US counterparts in physical sciences, chemistry, Earth, and environmental sciences. The only field in which the United States continues to lead is biological sciences.

The discovery is based on a snapshot of the Nature Index data obtained in April. This year, the whole statistics for 2022 will be available. Other organizations that monitor scientific research have also noticed a movement toward China.

The #Chinese-#US war extends to more than politics, as the #West collectively tries to catch up with #China's overwhelming dominance over the battery manufacturing industry. pic.twitter.com/Dxa0S5Cynv

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) February 1, 2023

According to a survey published last year by Japan's National Institute of Science and Technology Policy, Chinese research accounted for a bigger percentage of the top 1% of the most frequently cited articles than US studies between 2018 and 2020. China publishes 407,181 scientific publications every year, compared to the US' 293,434, the study showed.

China's leader, Xi Jinping, has pushed for the country to become a world leader in scientific research. In February, he stated that the government will increase research investment as the university became a new arena for technological competitiveness.

Read more: China leading US in technology: Think tank