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China vs Japan

On research quality in 2022-now, China ranks #1 in the world and Japan #27, of 189 countries. China stands higher in 26 of the 26 fields both publish in, Japan in 0.

China

World rank, 2022-now
#1
#4 all time
Works, 2022-now
4M
fractional
Top-10% rate
23.0%
share of its work among the world's most cited
Open access
30%
of its works free to read

Strongest relative focus: General Engineering, Acoustics and Ultrasonics, Catalysis.

Japan

World rank, 2022-now
#27
#14 all time
Works, 2022-now
558k
fractional
Top-10% rate
10.7%
share of its work among the world's most cited
Open access
42%
of its works free to read

Strongest relative focus: Condensed Matter Physics, Structural Biology, Gastroenterology.

Who leads in each field?

China stands higher in 26 of 26 fields, Japan in 0. Each bar is that side's standing among all countries ranked in the field: the full bar is first place.

China 260 Japan
  1. #1Agricultural and Biological Sciences#41
  2. #6Arts and Humanities#36
  3. #1Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology#21
  4. #1Business, Management and Accounting#61
  5. #1Chemical Engineering#25
  6. #1Chemistry#27
  7. #1Computer Science#37
  8. #1Decision Sciences#51
  9. #1Dentistry#21
  10. #1Earth and Planetary Sciences#25
  11. #1Economics, Econometrics and Finance#34
  12. #1Energy#28
  13. #1Engineering#33
  14. #1Environmental Science#33
  15. #2Health Professions#46
  16. #1Immunology and Microbiology#17
  17. #1Materials Science#26
  18. #1Mathematics#24
  19. #1Medicine#16
  20. #1Neuroscience#26
  21. #1Nursing#52
  22. #1Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics#31
  23. #1Physics and Astronomy#11
  24. #1Psychology#38
  25. #1Social Sciences#44
  26. #1Veterinary#25

Standing is the percentile of world rank within each field, 2022-now; the printed number is the rank itself. A dash means the field is too small there to rank. How sides are compared.

How has their output grown?

500k1M1.5MChina1.2M in 2025Japan144k in 20251990200020102020

Fractional works per year. The latest, partial year is left off.

Which publishes more research, China or Japan?

China publishes 7.2× as much research as Japan in 2022-now (4M against 558k fractional works).

Whose research has more impact, China or Japan?

23.0% of China's research reaches the world's top 10% most cited, against 10.7% for Japan.

Which institutions lead in each country?

The highest-ranked institutions on each side on research quality, 2022-now. The percentage is each institution's own top-10% rate: the share of its works that are among the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. Every figure stands alone, so they do not add up to 100%.

China

  1. 1Chinese Academy of Sciences27.1% top 10% · 58k works
  2. 2Tsinghua University27.2% top 10% · 40k works
  3. 3Shanghai Jiao Tong University25.5% top 10% · 44k works
  4. 4Zhejiang University26.1% top 10% · 41k works
  5. 5Sichuan University25.8% top 10% · 35k works
  6. 6Wuhan University29.3% top 10% · 25k works

Japan

  1. 1The University of Tokyo15.7% top 10% · 25k works
  2. 2Kyoto University15.1% top 10% · 15k works
  3. 3The University of Osaka12.4% top 10% · 13k works
  4. 4Tohoku University13.9% top 10% · 13k works
  5. 5Nagoya University13.0% top 10% · 9.7k works
  6. 6Kyushu University13.0% top 10% · 11k works

The number is the rank inside the country. The track on each row is the top-10% rate; the tick is the average of all institutions, 16.5% (why not 10%): teal above it, red below. The ranking is the quality score, which compares the rate with what each institution's own topics predict and adds a small reward for size, so the rates do not fall in order.

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Questions people ask

Which is stronger in research, China or Japan?

On research quality in 2022-now, China ranks #1 in the world and Japan #27, of 189 countries. China stands higher in 26 of the 26 fields both publish in, Japan in 0.

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