A comparison of top global research institutions by output in 2020 vs 2025, showing a massive increase in Chinese dominance.

Two horizontal bar charts from Fortune comparing institutional research output in 2020 and 2025. In 2020, Chinese Academy of Sciences leads followed by Harvard and Max Planck. By 2025, Chinese institutions occupy 9 of the top 10 spots, with Chinese Academy of Sciences nearly tripling the output of second-place Harvard.

Institution research output, 2020 CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 1,869 HARVARD UNIVERSITY 925 MAX PLANCK SOCIETY 791 FRENCH NAT. CENTRE FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH 691 STANFORD UNIVERSITY 638 HELMHOLTZ ASSO. OF GERMAN RESEARCH CENTERS 574 MIT 530 THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO 460 UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD 460 UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE 454 THE SCORE IS BASED ON "SHARE," OR AN ACCOUNT OF AUTHORSHIP ON EACH ARTICLE CHART: PRESTON FORE • SOURCE: NATURE INDEX FORTUNE Institution research output, 2025 CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 3218 HARVARD UNIVERSITY 1166 UNIV. OF SCIENCE AND TECH. OF CHINA 1026 ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY 1001 PEKING UNIVERSITY 933 UNIV. OF CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 929 TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY 920 SHANGHAI JIAO TONG UNIVERSITY 891 NANJING UNIVERSITY 883 FUDAN UNIVERSITY 808 THE SCORE IS BASED ON "SHARE," OR AN ACCOUNT OF AUTHORSHIP ON EACH ARTICLE CHART: PRESTON FORE • SOURCE: NATURE INDEX FORTUNE