Chinese scientists double research output over last decade

Chinese scientists have more than doubled their output of scientific papers over the last decade and are now second to the US by volume, Reuters reported. Chinese researchers published 20,000 research papers in 1998. This ballooned to nearly 112,000 in 2008, the report found, with China passing Japan, the UK and Germany in terms of annual output. During the same time US researchers increased output from 265,000 to 340,000 publications a year, a gain of around 30%. If the trend continues, China could surpass the US in the next decade. The research is concentrated in the physical sciences and technology, especially materials science, chemistry and physics. Analysts said this indicates that China is bound to dominate in a number of industries and could encourage collaboration between China and North American and European research institutions.