China “to Overtake US on Science” in Two Years

With a growing economy and rising surplus, China has invested heavily in education and R&D. "Chinese spending has grown by 20% per year since 1999, now reaching over $100bn, and as many as 1.5 million science and engineering students graduated from Chinese universities in 2006," reports David Shukman for the BBC News. A study by the UK's national science academy compares the publication rate of scientists and determined that China's scientists could soon outpace scientists in the US, Europe and Japan. China, though, mandates its scientists to publish, and quality lags in some cases. Academic journals are peer-reviewed, with details about individual authors is stripped. Ongoing investment, from China or other nations, entails global benefits, as applications of scientific discoveries – wheels, electricity, antibiotics – quickly spread. Still, modern science boosts defense capability and economic prowess. Nations that don't invest in science allow others to set the agendas. – YaleGlobal