Chinese universities are dominating global research on chips, US report says

While institutions from China take up most places on top 10 rankings for published papers and citations, there are none from the US

As the United States continues to tighten restrictions on chip exports to China in a bid to curb the country's access to advanced semiconductors, Chinese researchers have gone into overdrive.

In recent years, Chinese universities have been leading the world in research on chip design and fabrication. And they are producing much of the basic research that could influence next-generation semiconductor technology - and position China ahead of the pack.

From 2018 to 2023, nine of the top 10 biggest producers of English-language research on chips were Chinese institutions, according to a report released in March by the Emerging Technology Observatory at Georgetown University in Washington.

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Eight Chinese universities appear in the top 10 list of the most highly cited articles - or the top 10 per cent with the most citations each year in that period.

Only two institutions from other countries made the two lists: the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in France ranks third for total articles published, and 10th for the most citations; and the National University of Singapore ranks ninth for top-cited research.

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