Let's do a journalistic exercise: review for 15 consecutive days the Science section of the three largest Chinese state newspapers. The first of all is the People's Daily, the official newspaper of the ruling Communist Party. Then there is the Guangming Daily, more focused on educational topics, and the Southern Weekly, the favorite of more liberal intellectuals, which opts for approaches with a more social theme. If they have something in common besides the blatant pro-government alignment - they don't have any other option if they want to continue being sold at newsstands - is that they function as an endless dispenser of scientific milestones, patriotism, and subtle or not so subtle jabs at the usual target: the United States.
China has regained the crown of Physics research it lost to the US in 2023. For the first time, Shanghai has surpassed New York to rank second among the world's scientific cities on a list led by Beijing. In the latest issue of Nature, one of the oldest and most prestigious Western scientific journals, almost half of the published studies feature work by Chinese researchers. China has surpassed the US for the first time in the number of high-level science and technology experts. Why are the most prominent Chinese scientists working in the West returning to China?
These are some excerpts from the most prominent news, those of self-promotion, those that boost self-esteem. They all convey that Beijing is on a winning streak in the race to become the top superpower in everything, starting with excelling in the scientific field and dominating, as they are already doing, global research production.
One way to measure the quality of scientific research is by counting the number of articles researchers from each country publish each year in international scientific journals. But above all, the high impact these have: that is, the number of times the works are cited by their colleagues in other studies. According to data from Clarivate, a scientific analysis company, two decades ago the US produced 20 times more articles than China. In 2022, China surpassed the US for the first time in the quantity and quality of scientific articles, also leading the rankings of the Nature Index, created by the eponymous publisher, which includes contributions to quality reports appearing in the most prestigious publications. According to this index, the Asian giant, which now also holds more patents than any other country, is a world leader in Earth, physical, chemical, and environmental sciences.
Amid the new Cold War between the two global superpowers - these days we are witnessing the first shots of the trade war - the regime of Xi Jinping's assault on the peak of knowledge nurtures a national pride fueled by state media, which also dedicate ample space to highlight specific facts. That is, recent achievements, such as when a group of researchers from Huazhong University of Science and Technology recently managed to keep a monkey alive for six months with a genetically modified pig kidney, a significant advancement in organ transplantation from one species to another.
"Patients worldwide awaiting transplants are dying due to organ shortages, even in China, where only 10,000 transplants are performed annually, despite over a million people suffering from end-stage renal disease," explains Chen Gang, the team's director. "Pig organs, which are similar in size to human organs and have similar metabolic mechanisms, can offer a solution to the problem."
In this line of genetic research, there is more news about Chinese scientists who have used embryonic stem cell engineering to create the first mice with two parents that reach adulthood, revealing a possible way to enhance embryo development potential. Or that researchers at the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica have tested in mice a promising vaccine, developed from tumor cell membranes, for the treatment of breast cancer.
"The nanovaccine is designed to stimulate the immune response of B cells (abundant white blood cells found in tumors) and is known to have anti-tumor effects through multiple mechanisms. When tested in mice with triple-negative breast cancer (an invasive form that cannot be treated with hormonal therapy), the nanovaccine achieved a tumor inhibition rate of 89.3%," reads the report presented by the researchers, who highlighted that this approach could help create "more personalized" cancer vaccines that could even be extracted from the patient's own tumor cells.
From promising rodent tests, we move to space with a project to create a "solar power station" that collects solar energy in Earth's orbit and transmits it to Earth, providing continuous energy. "Space solar stations can collect energy without being affected by day-night cycles. Additionally, energy density is much higher in space: approximately 10 times the average on Earth's surface," says Long Lehao, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), who compares this idea to the construction of the famous Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest hydroelectric project, located on China's longest river, the Yangtze, with an annual energy generation capacity of about 100 billion kWh.
Long points out that for this project to move forward, rockets capable of transporting heavy materials into space are needed, as well as the development of new technologies to efficiently transmit energy to Earth. The former seems to be ready soon because Long's team has already developed the Long March-9, a reusable heavy cargo rocket that could transport up to 150 tons to low Earth orbit, surpassing, according to Chinese researchers, NASA's heavy cargo rockets.
In recent days, Chinese scientific pages highlight a "super-fast" commercial drone capable of reaching four times the speed of sound, which will make its first flight next year as part of a broader project to develop a supersonic passenger aircraft before 2030. And let's not overlook reports about one of the most viral videos on Chinese social media: robot dogs, trained to carry heavy loads in extreme cold conditions, at temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees, walking in Antarctica.
The Chinese seem to have taken a liking to four-legged robots. In cities like Nanjing or Tianjin, it is common to see robot police dogs patrolling commercial areas. And the military already has what they call robot wolves, quadrupedal units armed with rifles, working in teams and capable of supporting soldiers on the front lines.
Each of these wolves weighs 70 kilograms and is equipped with high-definition recognition cameras, infrared thermal cameras, and small radars. "They act in packs, which is why we compare them to wolves. They can perform various tasks, such as advanced reconnaissance work on the ground, transporting supplies, and precision attacks with light weapons against targets," detail from China Ordnance Industry Group, the state defense corporation that developed these robots.
Another company in the sector, Shanghai Qingbao Engine Robot, has manufactured 20 robot monks, dressed in traditional orange robes, which will be sent to India to deliver sermons in a Hindu temple. Unitree, a humanoid robot manufacturer from the city of Hangzhou, recently succeeded in bringing 16 robots to the Chinese New Year Gala, the world's most-watched TV show each year, captivating the audience with their synchronized dances.
Hangzhou, a significant manufacturing center in the robotic race between China and the US, is also the birthplace of the best Chinese startups, such as DeepSeek, the AI assistant that caused a stir in the tech market due to its low cost and powerful open-source