But there were some notable shifts among the rest of the top-ranked cities. The other 18 mainland Chinese cities that made the top 50 jumped to a higher ranking compared to last year, while most major cities outside China, including Tokyo, Paris and London, fell. The only exception was Seoul, which rose two spots.

The Nature Index measures two different scores – “count” and “share”. A city receives a count value of one for each article with at least one author affiliated with an institution in that city. The sum of these values is the city’s count score.

For the share score, each article is assigned a value of one, which is split equally among all authors. For instance, for an article with 10 authors, each author receives a share value of 0.1. Each city’s share score is calculated by adding up the share values of the authors in that city.

According to both indicators, Beijing overwhelmingly outperformed runner-up New York. The Chinese capital’s share score was 3,734.62 and its count score was 7,841 in the most recent ranking, whereas the figures for New York were 1,924.53 and 4,693 respectively.

A growing number of Chinese cities showed strong upwards momentum compared to the previous year, edging out other international research hubs.

For instance, the eastern city of Nanjing moved from eighth to sixth place, surpassing both Baltimore-Washington and the Tokyo metropolitan area. The southern metropolis of Guangzhou climbed from 10th to eighth place, displacing Paris, which fell from the ninth to the 11th spot.

When Nature first launched the global science city ranking in 2018, just 10 Chinese cities ranked among the top 50. Six years later, that number has already doubled.

“Beijing and other Asian cities are rapidly rising in the field of science, technology and innovation,” said Zeng Rong, vice-president of Tsinghua University in Beijing, in an interview with state news agency Xinhua on Wednesday. “There is a greater need for them to play an important role in international cooperation in the field.”

China the biggest contributor to research in top science journals last year

Major Chinese cities have increasingly poured money into science and technology, which they consider to be one of the crucial driving forces behind urban development.

For example, Hefei’s financial investment in science and technology increased from 4 per cent of the city’s general public expenditure to 14.2 per cent in the decade from 2012 to 2022.

The number of national hi-tech enterprises in the city grew from 615 to 4,578 over the same period.

“We are the city that is most willing to invest in technology,” Hefei officials were quoted as saying by local media last year.

According to the latest official data, Hefei is now home to 12 large scientific facilities, and four national key laboratories have been approved this year, which will bring the city’s total to six.

Hefei is also home to the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), where scientists like Pan Jianwei are leading China’s research and development in quantum technology. The university’s laboratories have led to the establishment of several hi-tech firms in the city.