See which countries fund the most scientific research
China ranks second only to the U.S.—thanks to a big boost in government spending.
This story appears in the May 2019 issue of National Geographic magazine.
Science is getting a boost in China. Research funding is second only to that of the United States, and the largesse is bearing fruit: The number of papers that Chinese scientists published in major journals rose 17 percent from 2016 to 2018.
Reversing the brain drain
In 2013 nine out of 10 Chinese students were still in the U.S. five years after earning Ph.D.’s. In 2017 more than 480,000 scholars in advanced studies abroad returned to China.
