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Nature Index 2025 Research Leaders: United States losing ground as China’s lead expands rapidly

Although the latest data predate the current Trump administration, observers warn that funding cuts will accelerate the rate of China’s gain.

But the gap between the two countries threatens to become a chasm very quickly; China has topped the list with a Share (the main Nature Index metric that tracks author contribution to research articles in the database) of 32,122 in 2024. Although China’s rise and the West’s decline in Share has been a continuing pattern in the Nature Index for several years, the acceleration of this trend has prompted science-policy watchers to question how big the gap will grow. Joanne Carney, the chief government relations officer at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), was stark in her warning that the United States had “clearly crossed a threshold into actively abdicating our position as a global leader in research and development and innovation”.

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