Just over a decade ago, China's first-class articles were very rare, and many professors had never published them, but one of them was very tall. Since the 21st century, the quantity and quality of scientific papers in China have increased explosively, and the standards for talents have also been rising. Now if you want to get an associate professor position in a unit like HKUST, five first-class articles are the starting price. Going out to introduce research results, if it is not of this magnitude, I am simply embarrassed to say hello to people.

The research level of the first-class and second-class universities in the United States is very high. Any professor is a famous figure, and there are a large number of Nobel Prize winners. Yes, many Nobel Prize winners work in second-rate universities in the United States.

not long (ten years? ) In the past, the research level of China University as a whole was not comparable to that of the United States, and the difference was too far. However, China has made rapid progress, and now the research level of the first-class universities in China is close to that of the second-class universities in the United States. At least people's expectations have changed, and it is not surprising that China's research institutes have made world-class achievements. Progress is also manifested in the breadth. In the past, only the first-class universities in China could expect serious research. Now even some second-rate universities publish an article on Nature and Science from time to time.

China's rising momentum can be seen from the comparison of WFP in 214 and 213. The United States decreased by .8%, Germany increased by 1.%, Japan decreased by 2.3% and Britain increased by .9%, and then France, Canada, Spain, Switzerland and South Korea all decreased. What about China? Up 14.9%! What is this concept? If the growth rate of 14.9% is maintained, it will double in five years. If both China and the United States maintain the rate of change of 14.9% and -.8%, China will catch up with the United States in 8.7 years.

but it's not over yet. The WFC data of Nature Publishing Group is updated monthly. What is shown now is the statistics from June 214 to May 215, which is just half a year compared with the data in December 214. In just half a year, China's WFC has changed from 526 to 6318, an increase of 25.7%!

at this rate, it will increase by 58% in two and a half years or one year, reaching 7942. Therefore, don't be surprised if you see the report that China's WFC reached 7 or even 8 in 215. At the same time, the WFC in the United States changed from 18,643 to 17,448, a decrease of 6.4%; Germany changed from 477 to 3939, a decrease of 3.4%.

In half a year, the ratio of the United States to China has been reduced from 3.6 to 2.8, and the ratio of China to German has been expanded from 1.3 to 1.6. If this staggering speed continues, it will take China not nine years, but three years! We may see it in 217! In addition, Russia (338) ranks 19th, and China is 18.7 times that of Russia.

there is another dimension to look at. The WFC mentioned earlier comes from the statistics of 68 first-class journals, but the academic status of these journals is not equal. For example, Qiu Qianren and Wang Zhongyang in The Legend of the Condor Heroes are both first-class masters, but Wang Zhongyang is still much better than Qiu Qianren. The academic reputation and publishing difficulty of Nature and Science are higher than most other first-class journals, so we can regard them as the representatives of top journals. Of course, this is less representative, because there are too many landmark papers published outside Nature and Science in history (including many Nobel Prize winners), far more than those published outside the 68 first-class journals, but it is still worth making a reference.

Nature Publishing Group has also given a WFC limited to these two magazines. Let's take it as an indicator for each country or research institution to publish top papers. From June 214 to May 215, the United States (86) ranked the highest among countries, followed by Britain (144), Germany (116) and France (67), and China (58) only ranked fifth.

The highest research unit is Harvard University (75), while China Academy of Sciences (17) ranks 15th.

Of course, there are factors that Nature and Science pay special attention to Britain and the United States, but it also reflects that our position in top papers is lower than that in first-class papers. In other words, our advantage mainly lies in the sub-top achievements. As will be mentioned later, this is a universal phenomenon, and it is related to the history and culture of China and the West.

patent data of the five major intellectual property offices

The output of basic research can be measured by scientific papers. Let's look at the output of applied technology and measure it by patents. The five largest intellectual property offices in the world are the European Patent Office, the Japanese Patent Office, the Korean Patent Office, the China National Intellectual Property Administration of China and the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The five offices have handled 8% of the world's patent applications and undertaken 95% of the patent cooperation treaties.

since 212, the five bureaus have jointly released statistical reports every year. At the beginning of 215, the Fifth Bureau released the main statistical data report of 214, and the full version of the statistical report of the Fifth Bureau in 214 will be completed by the end of 215. Patents are divided into invention patents, utility model patents and design patents. Obviously, invention patents have the highest degree of correlation with the level of science and technology. All the data listed in the main statistical reports of the Fifth Bureau are the data of invention patents.

In p>214, the Fifth Bureau * * * received 2.3 million invention patent applications, of which China was the largest, with 928,, accounting for 4%! Followed by the United States, 579, pieces. Japan, Europe and South Korea have 32.6, 27.4 and 21, pieces respectively. This is the fourth consecutive year that China ranks first in the number of invention patent applications. Compared with 213, China also has the highest growth rate, reaching 12.5%. The growth rates of the United States, Japan, Europe and South Korea are 1.3%, -.7%, 3.1% and 2.8% respectively.

Let's look at the authorization of invention patents. In 214, the Fifth Bureau * * * authorized 955,4 invention patents, the largest of which was the United States, with 31,, accounting for 31%. Followed by China, with 233, pieces. Japan, South Korea and Europe have 22.7, 13. and 65, pieces respectively. China has the highest growth rate of 12.3%, while the growth rates of the United States, Japan, South Korea and Europe are 8.2%, -18.%, 1.9% and -3.1% respectively.

it should be noted that the applicants for each intellectual property office come from all over the world, not just their own countries. Among the applicants from China National Intellectual Property Administration, China, 86% are from China and 4% are from the United States. Among the applicants from the US Patent and Trademark Office, only 5% are from the United States and 3% are from China. In terms of authorization, among the patentees in China National Intellectual Property Administration, China, 7% are from China and 7% are from the United States. Among the patentees in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, 48% are from the United States and 2% are from China. Obviously, the degree of internationalization of American patents is much higher than that of China, and the ability to absorb foreign intellectual achievements is worth learning.