No, you are mistaken if you believe that a country’s military strength makes it a superpower. It is much more innovation, education and science that will determine who will lead the world in the future. Yes, it wasn’t long ago that the Asian tigers Japan and South Korea gave Europeans and Americans a tough nut to crack – with their cars and electronics. Japan was at the top for a very long time when it came to the number of patents registered. Guess which country is in first place today? It’s China, of course. The Australian Institute for Strategic Policy has confirmed that the Middle Kingdom dominates in 37 out of 44 key technologies. In 2024, the number of Chinese patents rose by 13.5 percent and the number of new trademarks was 9.1 percent. According to the Global Innovation Index, the country ranks 11th and remains the leader in upper middle-income economies. Just a decade earlier, it was in 29th place. In comparison, the USA is in 3rd place in this index, and ten years ago it was in 6th place.
In 2024, Chinese scientific and technological clusters were the most strongly represented in the WIPO ranking for the second time in a row. Chinese researchers announced in January 2025 that their DeepSeek-R1 had beaten the American Open AI o1 in three out of five tests. Following the success of the Chang’e-6 probe, Beijing has launched a space science development program until 2050.
China has been at the top of the Nature Index rankings for two years and is extending its lead over the USA. Even The Economist described the country as a scientific superpower. However, Beijing is not resting on its laurels and is increasingly investing in science, which it rightly sees as the key to world domination. Effectively, because most doctoral theses are published in China. For ten years, the Double First-Class Initiative has been in place, which aims to create a world class of universities and disciplines. This is a continuation of the college-level boost projects although it differs from them in some ways. Universities selected for the program receive additional funding, but must demonstrate good scientific results, measured mainly by publications in prestigious international journals, to remain on the list of beneficiaries. Since 2019, there is an action plan within the framework of the China Journal Excellence, which aims to make Chinese journals world-leading publishers. There are already several similar programs, but these are the most efficient. Being included in the plan means meeting strict requirements, including indexing the journal in the Web of Science.
The driving force behind the development of science and innovation is people and money. Therefore, China is not cutting back on either of them. They are currently second ($723 billion) after the US ($784 billion) in spending on research and development. Preliminary data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics shows that nearly $495 billion was allocated for this purpose in 2024. According to the XIV Five-Year Plan, Beijing aims to increase these amounts by at least 7% per year. Over the past ten years, this expenditure has tripled and its share of GDP has increased almost 1.5 times.
