China in semiconductor research
China writes the largest share of the most cited research in all three semiconductor technologies tracked here.
Data: OpenAlex, research published 2021–2025, pulled 23 October 2026. Definition version 0.5.
China's share rose in all three; the US share fell in two
Each technology's share for China, the United States and the next country, 2021–2023 against 2024–2025. On the right, China's change.
2021–20232024–2025Share of the 10% most cited papers
The numbers behind the chart
| Technology | China | United States | Next country |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced chip manufacturing | 26.3% → 37.6% | 12.8% → 17.3% | India 22.3% → 10.6% |
| AI chips | 42.8% → 49.3% | 15.7% → 7.9% | South Korea 9.5% → 14.4% |
| Wide-bandgap semiconductors | 36.0% → 45.8% | 20.2% → 17.0% | India 4.2% → 4.4% |
China leads 18 of 22 sub‑areas
Another country leads photonic AI accelerators (United States), diamond, aluminium nitride and other ultra-wide-bandgap materials (United States), compact modelling and device simulation (India) and transistor architectures (India). Each paper is sorted into one sub-area by an AI model reading its title and abstract (92% agreement with hand labels on 200 papers).
Share of the sub-area's papers in the top 10%: China against the strongest other country
The other 8 sub-areas, all led by China
Share of the sub-area's papers in the top 10%: China against the strongest other country
The numbers behind the chart
| Sub-area | Technology | Papers | China | Strongest other country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Optoelectronic synapses and in-sensor computing | AI chips | 104 | 75.8% (1st) | South Korea 8.6% |
| Ultraviolet photodetectors (gallium oxide, AlGaN) | Wide-bandgap semiconductors | 108 | 72.3% (1st) | India 6.7% |
| Ferroelectric memory and synaptic devices | AI chips | 49 | 53.5% (1st) | South Korea 10.2% |
| Hybrid bonding, through-silicon vias and interconnect reliability | Advanced chip manufacturing | 73 | 53.7% (1st) | Taiwan 12.0% |
| Reservoir and physical computing | AI chips | 30 | 49.2% (1st) | South Korea 14.1% |
| Silicon carbide power devices and processing | Wide-bandgap semiconductors | 65 | 44.7% (1st) | United States 13.9% |
| Memristors and resistive-switching synapses | AI chips | 178 | 43.6% (1st) | South Korea 17.2% |
| Synaptic transistors (electrochemical, ionic, 2D, organic) | AI chips | 61 | 52.3% (1st) | South Korea 26.1% |
| Lithography (EUV, photoresists, light sources) | Advanced chip manufacturing | 64 | 41.5% (1st) | United States 16.6% |
| Gallium oxide transistors and power diodes | Wide-bandgap semiconductors | 144 | 43.1% (1st) | United States 19.7% |
| Spiking neural networks and neuromorphic systems | AI chips | 66 | 35.0% (1st) | United States 17.9% |
| Power modules, packaging and thermal management | Wide-bandgap semiconductors | 78 | 40.1% (1st) | United States 24.4% |
| Compute-in-memory and AI accelerator chips | AI chips | 114 | 35.2% (1st) | United States 27.1% |
| Crystal growth, doping and defect physics | Wide-bandgap semiconductors | 56 | 30.5% (1st) | United States 22.5% |
| Colour centres and spin defects for quantum technology | Wide-bandgap semiconductors | 30 | 22.8% (1st) | United States 16.4% |
| Gallium nitride RF transistors and power amplifiers | Wide-bandgap semiconductors | 77 | 27.8% (1st) | United States 26.4% |
| Gallium nitride power transistors and devices | Wide-bandgap semiconductors | 86 | 27.9% (1st) | United States 26.6% |
| Chiplets, advanced packaging and heterogeneous integration | Advanced chip manufacturing | 49 | 31.9% (1st) | United States 31.3% |
| Photonic AI accelerators | AI chips | 31 | 26.8% (2nd) | United States 28.7% |
| Diamond, aluminium nitride and other ultra-wide-bandgap materials | Wide-bandgap semiconductors | 37 | 26.0% (2nd) | United States 37.3% |
| Compact modelling and device simulation (incl. machine learning) | Advanced chip manufacturing | 36 | 16.7% (2nd) | India 36.3% |
| Transistor architectures (FinFET, nanosheet, gate-all-around) | Advanced chip manufacturing | 74 | 14.8% (2nd) | India 50.9% |
Year by year
Share of the 10% most cited papers published in each year.
Fewer than 100 top papers in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024: single years are noisy.
Fewer than 100 top papers in 2021: single years are noisy.
The numbers behind the charts
| Country | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| China | 17.9% | 26.7% | 32.9% | 36.6% | 38.4% |
| United States | 9.4% | 13.7% | 15.0% | 14.4% | 19.7% |
| India | 34.3% | 18.6% | 15.3% | 9.1% | 11.7% |
| Papers in the top 10% | 63 | 61 | 75 | 85 | 106 |
| Country | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| China | 37.2% | 42.8% | 46.2% | 46.1% | 51.6% |
| United States | 14.5% | 19.6% | 13.3% | 11.2% | 5.5% |
| South Korea | 8.8% | 10.8% | 8.8% | 16.0% | 13.3% |
| Papers in the top 10% | 81 | 111 | 135 | 152 | 210 |
| Country | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| China | 27.0% | 37.2% | 42.9% | 45.5% | 46.1% |
| United States | 19.6% | 20.6% | 20.2% | 20.6% | 13.7% |
| Japan | 7.5% | 6.7% | 6.5% | 2.7% | 4.3% |
| Papers in the top 10% | 122 | 125 | 136 | 174 | 190 |
Among the 1% most cited papers, the United States leads advanced chip manufacturing
The 1% most cited papers are a tenth as many as the top 10%, so a few papers move them.
Top 10%Top 1%Share of each tier's papers
The numbers behind the chart
| Technology | China, top 10% | China, top 1% | United States, top 10% | United States, top 1% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced chip manufacturing | 31.8% | 24.6% | 15.0% | 31.7% |
| AI chips | 46.2% | 44.7% | 11.6% | 16.6% |
| Wide-bandgap semiconductors | 40.8% | 42.1% | 18.6% | 14.7% |
Chinese Academy of Sciences is in all three world top tens, more than any other Chinese institution
Chinese institutions in the world's top ten
- Chinese Academy of Sciences3rd in advanced chip manufacturing, 3rd in AI chips, 6th in wide-bandgap semiconductors
- Xidian University4th in advanced chip manufacturing, 1st in wide-bandgap semiconductors
- Fudan University1st in AI chips, 5th in wide-bandgap semiconductors
- Zhejiang University7th in AI chips, 8th in wide-bandgap semiconductors
- University of Science and Technology of China2nd in wide-bandgap semiconductors
- Peking University4th in AI chips
- Institute of Microelectronics6th in advanced chip manufacturing
- Tsinghua University6th in AI chips
Ranked among all institutions worldwide by share of the top 10%.
Who China writes the top papers with
- CNHKHong Kong79 papers
- CNUSUnited States66 papers
- CNGBUnited Kingdom42 papers
- CNSGSingapore33 papers
- CNJPJapan13 papers
Shared papers in the top 10%, summed across the technologies.
With excess home citations removed, China's wide‑bandgap semiconductors share is 36.4%, from 40.8%, and it still ranks 1st
Citations from a paper's own country, against the share expected from that country's size in the field.
| Technology | Citations from China | Expected from its size | Excess |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced chip manufacturing93 single-country papers | 57.8% | 25.2% | +32.6 pts |
| AI chipsUp to 100 single-country papers | 63.9% | 44.6% | +19.3 pts |
| Wide-bandgap semiconductorsEvery top-10% paper | 67.3% | 41.4% | +25.9 pts |
Home citers include authors citing their own earlier work. Re-ranking with the excess removed is computed so far for wide-bandgap semiconductors (China 40.8% → 36.4%).
Questions
Is China leading in semiconductors?
China writes the largest share of the most cited research in all three semiconductor technologies tracked here. Measured by each country's share of the most cited papers published 2021–2025.
Is China ahead of the US in semiconductors research?
China is ahead in advanced chip manufacturing, AI chips and wide-bandgap semiconductors (31.8% to 15.0%, 46.2% to 11.6% and 40.8% to 18.6%). Among the 1% most cited, the United States leads advanced chip manufacturing.
Is China's share growing?
China's share rose in all three; the US share fell in two, comparing 2021–2023 with 2024–2025: advanced chip manufacturing 26.3% to 37.6%, AI chips 42.8% to 49.3% and wide-bandgap semiconductors 36.0% to 45.8%.
Which Chinese institutions lead semiconductors research?
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xidian University, Fudan University and Zhejiang University: each is in the world's top ten by share of the most cited papers in at least one of these technologies.
Which countries come next after China and the US?
In advanced chip manufacturing, India, South Korea and Taiwan. In AI chips, South Korea, Singapore and Germany. In wide-bandgap semiconductors, Japan, India and South Korea.
What does this measure, and what does it not?
Each country's share of the most cited research papers published 2021–2025, with each paper's credit split between its authors' countries. Three technologies stand for semiconductors here: advanced chip manufacturing, AI chips and wide-bandgap semiconductors (gallium nitride, silicon carbide and gallium oxide). It does not measure chip production capacity, fabs, manufacturing equipment or market share. Definitions and method: each technology's page and the method page.
The data, and where to go next
- Advanced chip manufacturingEvery country, institutions, papers
- AI chipsEvery country, institutions, papers
- Wide-bandgap semiconductorsEvery country, institutions, papers
- China in AI researchChina leads three of four
- China in robotics researchChina 31.5% of the top papers, the United States 16.0%
- China in all 45 technologiesWhich way China is moving in each
- Is China ahead of the US in technology?All 45, head to head