China is racing ahead in research output amid tech curbs, but quality must keep pace with volume, Shanghai forum learns

Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen are among top 10 most innovative and ‘most ideal’ places for scientists, studies released at Pujiang Innovation Forum show

China will work with other nations to create ‘open, fair, just’ environment for science and technology, President Xi Jinping says in letter to forum

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The central business district in Beijing, which topped a ranking of most innovative cities worldwide by Elsevier. Photo: AP

Published: 2:00pm, 10 Sep 2023Updated: 2:54pm, 10 Sep 2023

Intense global competition is boosting innovative capacity among Chinese cities, but they still need better quality and bolder research, two studies released at a forum in Shanghai suggest.

Three Chinese mega cities ranked among the top 10 in a study rating 20 major cities worldwide on their overall innovative capability.

Beijing was at No 1, with Shanghai and Shenzhen in sixth and eighth place, respectively, in the study conducted by information analytics company Elsevier and issued on Saturday at the annual Pujiang Innovation Forum.

The three were also among the top 10 “most ideal cities” for scientists to live in, according to a second study based on a survey of over 800 leading scientists around the world by publisher Springer Nature.

The findings come as China doubles down on efforts to become more self-reliant in science and technology in the face of growing containment measures from the West and a strategy of innovation-driven growth.

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