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.
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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.
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.
No institutions from the United States – the second largest producer of research on chip design and fabrication – made the top 10 lists for total articles published or most-cited articles.
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