Office buildings in the East Lake High-tech Development Zone (also known as Optics Valley of China, or OVC). [Photo/WeChat account of Optics Valley of China]

On Nov 22, Nature – a world-leading multidisciplinary science journal – announced the latest list of leading research cities and metropolitan areas worldwide. The list is based on the places' research output in 82 natural science journals tracked by the Nature Index in 2021-2022. Chinese research cities have continued to perform well in the index.

Beijing remains the world's top research city, accounting for nearly 20 percent of China's total share of the index. The other top 10 research cities and metropolitan areas globally are the New York metropolitan area, Shanghai, the Boston metropolitan area, the San Francisco Bay area, Nanjing, the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area, Guangzhou, the Tokyo metropolitan area, and Wuhan.

China also has five other cities among the top 20: Hefei (13th), Hangzhou (16th), Tianjin (18th), Shenzhen (19th), and Xi'an (20th).

Research in earth and environmental sciences, including studies related to climate change and pollution, has helped Chinese research cities rise rapidly in the Nature Index. Beijing and Nanjing saw the fastest growth in this discipline, with absolute growth values of 165 and 71 in adjusted shares from 2021 to 2022.

The Global Innovation Hubs Index 2023 (GIHI) has also been officially released. This index shows that more Chinese cities have entered the ranks of international innovation hubs this year, with Beijing, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and Shanghai among the global top 10.

GIHI, mainly compiled by the Center for Industrial Development and Environmental Governance at Tsinghua University, evaluated 119 sci-tech innovation cities worldwide across three dimensions: scientific centers, innovation hubs, and innovation ecosystems.