World Tech Rankings
China in critical technologies

Is China winning the biotech research race?

It is split. China leads antibiotics and antivirals, and synthetic biology. The United States leads gene editing, mRNA vaccines and genome sequencing, though in 2025 China passed it in gene editing and the US no longer clearly led the other two.

Measured by each country's share of the 10% most cited biotech research papers published 2021–2025, as of October 2026. It counts research influence, not total output, products or industry. How it's measured

Year by year, China is gaining in gene editing, mRNA vaccines, and antibiotics and antivirals

Each line shows how much of a year's most influential research came from each country.

ChinaUnited StatesOther leadersHover or tap a year. Open a chart for the full ranking.

Gene editing2021–2025 overall: China 27.4%, US 32.2%
04080% 200520152025 CN 36.8%US 24.7%
mRNA vaccines and therapeutics2021–2025 overall: China 16.1%, US 38.7%
03060% 200520152025 US 31.6%CN 28.3%
Synthetic biology2021–2025 overall: China 45.7%, US 15.0%
03060% 200520152025 CN 45.2%US 11.3%KR 7.9%
Genome sequencing2021–2025 overall: China 27.6%, US 33.6%
04080% 20052010201520202025 CN 29.4%US 26.4%
New antibiotics and antivirals2021–2025 overall: China 30.3%, US 15.3%
03060% 20052010201520202025 CN 38.2%US 11.6%

Share of each year's 10% most cited papers, with each paper's credit split between its authors' countries. Source: OpenAlex, pulled 24 October 2026.

Table of the numbers
Gene editing: share of the 10% most cited papers by year
YearChinaUnited StatesTop papers
20138.5%79.3%37
201413.2%62.7%70
201511.2%65.3%99
201615.2%49.8%147
201718.8%51.5%158
201820.4%42.2%185
201925.6%41.9%204
202021.3%37.5%207
202122.0%37.7%220
202222.7%35.1%235
202325.9%32.8%226
202429.0%31.1%230
202536.8%24.7%244
mRNA vaccines and therapeutics: share of the 10% most cited papers by year
YearChinaUnited StatesTop papers
20157.0%45.4%22
20164.3%41.9%23
201710.2%34.4%25
20180.0%50.0%25
20197.8%38.3%26
20209.3%58.2%41
20212.1%42.5%156
20229.6%41.2%234
202316.9%43.6%180
202421.2%35.9%179
202528.3%31.6%221
Synthetic biology: share of the 10% most cited papers by year
YearChinaUnited StatesTop papers
20092.9%50.9%35
20102.3%56.7%35
20110.0%55.9%41
20122.7%51.7%55
20139.8%50.4%64
201413.7%52.1%71
201515.4%41.8%76
201614.4%31.8%87
201717.1%38.3%83
201821.8%32.0%97
201926.8%24.0%95
202023.6%31.1%103
202137.2%24.6%107
202246.3%18.2%115
202350.7%7.1%111
202448.6%15.9%126
202545.2%11.3%175
Genome sequencing: share of the 10% most cited papers by year
YearChinaUnited StatesTop papers
20111.0%65.9%25
20127.8%25.4%37
20136.1%55.1%41
20145.3%43.9%51
20154.7%44.0%51
20163.0%41.9%54
20174.1%39.7%54
201811.3%47.1%61
20196.5%52.1%83
202012.8%40.4%100
202121.8%41.1%116
202227.1%34.9%116
202332.9%34.2%122
202426.5%32.8%137
202529.4%26.4%134
New antibiotics and antivirals: share of the 10% most cited papers by year
YearChinaUnited StatesTop papers
20050.0%37.1%38
20060.0%46.8%42
20075.5%29.4%39
20085.6%37.1%51
20091.5%37.3%56
20105.1%26.7%61
20116.7%27.2%67
20127.1%26.0%70
20133.8%27.3%73
201410.2%24.1%76
20156.5%24.8%80
20169.4%24.2%87
20177.6%18.7%88
201812.1%21.4%97
201914.0%19.1%99
202013.1%22.7%164
202123.4%22.1%166
202223.9%18.3%163
202334.3%15.2%156
202431.8%9.3%159
202538.2%11.6%167

What stands out

  1. In 16 years, China went from behind the United States to the lead in synthetic biology. In 2009, China wrote fewer than one in twenty (2.9%) of the most influential synthetic-biology papers and the United States about half. In 2025, China wrote about half and the United States about one in nine.
  2. In 2025, China passed the United States in gene editing. That year China wrote about one in three (36.8%) of the most influential gene-editing papers and the United States about one in four (24.7%). Over 2021–2025 as a whole, the United States still leads, 32.2% to 27.4%.
  3. In 2025, the United States no longer clearly led in mRNA vaccines or genome sequencing. mRNA vaccines: China 28.3%, the United States 31.6% in 2025, against 16.1% and 38.7% over 2021–2025. Genome sequencing: China 29.4%, the United States 26.4% in 2025, against 27.6% and 33.6% over 2021–2025. Over the whole period the United States still leads both.
  4. Antibiotics and antivirals is where China's lead grew most. China wrote about one in four of the most influential antibiotic and antiviral papers in 2021–2023 and about one in three in 2024–2025; the United States went from about one in five to about one in ten.

Editor's notes, re-checked against the data on every update (latest 24 October 2026); a note the data stops supporting is removed.

China gained ground in three of five areas

The United States lost ground in all five. Hollow dots: 2021–2023. Filled: 2024–2025. On the right, China's change in percentage points.

2021–20232024–2025Share of the 10% most cited papers

Gene editing
+9.5 pts
mRNA vaccines and therapeutics
+15.3 pts
Synthetic biology
+1.8 pts
Genome sequencing
+0.6 pts
New antibiotics and antivirals
+8.0 pts
The numbers behind the chart
TechnologyChinaUnited StatesNext country
Gene editing23.5% → 33.0%35.2% → 27.8%South Korea 3.7% → 5.0%
mRNA vaccines and therapeutics9.8% → 25.1%42.3% → 33.6%Australia 1.4% → 4.5%
Synthetic biology44.8% → 46.6%16.5% → 13.2%South Korea 4.1% → 5.9%
Genome sequencing27.4% → 27.9%36.7% → 29.6%United Kingdom 5.2% → 4.8%
New antibiotics and antivirals27.1% → 35.1%18.6% → 10.4%India 4.2% → 5.6%

Gene editing: the United States leads over 2021–2025, but China was ahead in 2024–2025

Rewriting DNA at chosen sites, with CRISPR and the tools that followed it.

The United States writes about one in three of the most influential gene-editing papers, 4.8 points more than China's share, but in 2025 China wrote more (36.8% to 24.7%).

2021–2025: the United States 32.2% (1st, about 370 of the 1,155 top papers), China 27.4% (2nd, about 320), South Korea 4.2% (3rd), India 4.0% (4th), Germany 2.5% (5th). 2021–2023 to 2024–2025: China 23.5% to 33.0%, the United States 35.2% to 27.8%. All 77 countries and institutions

Top 1%
United States leads, 44.4%
Leading Chinese institution
Chinese Academy of Sciences, 6th in the world
China's most cited study
Off-target effects in CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing 619 citations

mRNA vaccines and therapeutics: the United States leads, China is 2nd

Medicines that deliver genetic instructions to cells, and the lipid particles that carry them.

The United States writes about two in five of the most influential mRNA papers, two and a half times China's share, but in 2025 its lead was too close to call (31.6% to China's 28.3%).

2021–2025: the United States 38.7% (1st, about 380 of the 970 top papers), China 16.1% (2nd, about 160), Germany 3.5% (3rd), Canada 3.4% (joint 4th), Japan 3.3% (joint 4th). 2021–2023 to 2024–2025: China 9.8% to 25.1%, the United States 42.3% to 33.6%. All 70 countries and institutions

Top 1%
United States leads, 57.2%
Leading Chinese institution
Zhejiang University, 5th in the world
China's most cited study
mRNA-based therapeutics: powerful and versatile tools to combat diseases 771 citations

Synthetic biology: China leads by a wide margin

Engineering cells and microbes to make chemicals, materials and medicines.

China writes about half of the most influential synthetic-biology papers, about three times the United States' share. Since 2021–2023, China's share held steady and the US share fell by about a fifth.

2021–2025: China 45.7% (1st, about 290 of the 634 top papers), the United States 15.0% (2nd, about 95), South Korea 5.0% (3rd), Germany 4.7% (4th), the United Kingdom 3.9% (5th). 2021–2023 to 2024–2025: China 44.8% to 46.6%, the United States 16.5% to 13.2%. All 55 countries and institutions

Top 1%
China leads, 32.2%
Leading Chinese institution
Jiangnan University, 1st in the world
China's most cited study
Engineering cofactor supply and recycling to drive phenolic acid biosynthesis in yeast 259 citations

Genome sequencing: the United States leads, China is 2nd

Reading DNA and RNA faster and more cheaply, down to single cells.

The United States writes about one in three of the most influential genome-sequencing papers, 6.0 points more than China's share, but in 2025 China wrote slightly more, too close to call a lead (29.4% to 26.4%).

2021–2025: the United States 33.6% (1st, about 210 of the 625 top papers), China 27.6% (2nd, about 170), the United Kingdom 5.0% (3rd), Germany 4.7% (4th), Australia 3.9% (5th). 2021–2023 to 2024–2025: China 27.4% to 27.9%, the United States 36.7% to 29.6%. All 59 countries and institutions

Top 1%
United States leads, 49.9%
Leading Chinese institution
Peking University, 3rd in the world
China's most cited study
CellMarker 2.0: an updated database of manually curated cell markers in human/mouse and web tools based on scRNA-seq data 1,264 citations

New antibiotics and antivirals: China leads

Discovering drugs that beat resistant bacteria and new viruses.

China writes about one in three of the most influential antibiotic and antiviral papers, about twice the United States' share. Since 2021–2023, China's share grew by about a third and the US share nearly halved.

2021–2025: China 30.3% (1st, about 250 of the 811 top papers), the United States 15.3% (2nd, about 120), India 4.7% (3rd), Italy 4.2% (4th), Brazil 2.8% (joint 5th). 2021–2023 to 2024–2025: China 27.1% to 35.1%, the United States 18.6% to 10.4%. All 82 countries and institutions

Top 1%
China leads, 32.4%
Leading Chinese institution
Northeast Agricultural University, 1st in the world
China's most cited study
Antimicrobial peptides for combating drug-resistant bacterial infections 665 citations

Beyond China and the United States

Germany, South Korea, India and the United Kingdom are among the top three after China and the United States in two or more areas each. The highest placing for any other country is 3rd: South Korea in gene editing and synthetic biology, Germany in mRNA vaccines, the United Kingdom in genome sequencing and India in antibiotics and antivirals.

CountryGene editingGene editingmRNA vaccines and therapeuticsmRNA vaccinesSynthetic biologySynthetic biologyGenome sequencingGenome sequen­cingNew antibiotics and antiviralsAnti­biotics and antiviralsStrongest area
5th2.5%3rd3.5%4th4.7%4th4.7%=8th2.3%mRNA vaccines
6th2.4%7th2.5%5th3.9%3rd5.0%7th2.5%Genome sequencing
4th4.0%=12th1.6%6th3.5%=13th1.2%3rd4.7%Antibiotics and antivirals
3rd4.2%9th2.2%3rd5.0%=7th1.6%=13th1.3%Synthetic biology
=13th1.1%6th2.7%=9th1.2%5th3.9%=5th2.7%Genome sequencing
=8th1.6%=4th3.4%=11th0.9%=7th1.6%10th2.1%mRNA vaccines
12th1.4%=10th1.8%=15th0.7%=19th0.5%4th4.2%Antibiotics and antivirals
=8th1.5%=4th3.3%=15th0.7%=13th1.1%=22nd0.8%mRNA vaccines
=16th0.8%=18th0.7%8th1.5%=10th1.4%=11th1.9%Synthetic biology
7th1.9%20th0.6%=9th1.1%6th2.0%=24th0.6%Genome sequencing
=8th1.6%=10th1.8%=11th0.8%=19th0.5%=17th1.0%Gene editing
=8th1.6%=16th0.8%=20th0.4%–=8th2.2%Antibiotics and antivirals

Rank, then share of the most cited papers, 2021–2025. "=" marks a tie. Hover or tap a cell for more; tap a country to follow it through the page.

Does China's lead hold up?

On the first check, yes; the second is not yet run. Counting only the 1% most cited papers, China still leads both areas it leads overall. The United States does better at the very top in three of five areas.

Check 1: only the most cited 1% of papers

Each technology's top 1% is a tenth as many papers as its top 10%, so a few papers move it. Hollow: the top 10%. Filled: the top 1%.

Top 10%Top 1%Share of each tier's papers

Gene editing117 papers in the top 1%
United States
mRNA vaccines and therapeutics102 papers in the top 1%
United States
Synthetic biology66 papers in the top 1%, a small sample
China
Genome sequencing65 papers in the top 1%, a small sample
United States
New antibiotics and antivirals83 papers in the top 1%, a small sample
China
The numbers behind the chart
TechnologyChina, top 10%China, top 1%United States, top 10%United States, top 1%
Gene editing27.4%23.5%32.2%44.4%
mRNA vaccines and therapeutics16.1%14.5%38.7%57.2%
Synthetic biology45.7%32.2%15.0%21.0%
Genome sequencing27.6%18.5%33.6%49.9%
New antibiotics and antivirals30.3%32.4%15.3%16.7%

Check 2: discounting home-country citations

In every area, China's top papers are cited from within China more than its size would predict, 1.2 to 3 times as often. Re-ranking with the excess removed is not yet computed for these areas, so whether the leads survive it is open.

The numbers behind this check

Researchers cite work from their own country more often. This compares how often China's top papers are cited from China with what China's size in the field predicts; the re-ranking removes only the excess.

TechnologyCitations from ChinaExpected from its sizeExcess
Gene editingUp to 100 single-country papers50.6%28.4%+22.2 pts
mRNA vaccines and therapeutics95 single-country papers54.2%16.8%+37.4 pts
Synthetic biologyUp to 100 single-country papers56.1%46.8%+9.3 pts
Genome sequencingUp to 100 single-country papers59.5%36.1%+23.4 pts
New antibiotics and antiviralsUp to 100 single-country papers46.6%26.7%+19.9 pts

Home citers include authors citing their own earlier work.

China's most influential biotech papers

The most cited papers led from China, 2021–2025. Tap a technology.

  1. Off-target effects in CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing
    Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology2023CN
    Peking University, Capital Medical University and Beijing Anzhen Hospital
    619citations, #10 of 1,155 worldwide
  2. Nanoparticle Delivery of CRISPR/Cas9 for Genome Editing
    Frontiers in Genetics2021CN
    Shenzhen University, Shenzhen Second People's Hospital and Shenzhen KangNing Hospital
    383citations, #26 of 1,155 worldwide
  3. Programmable RNA editing with compact CRISPR–Cas13 systems from uncultivated microbes
    Nature Methods2021CN
    Chinese Academy of Sciences, Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology and Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences
    346citations, #31 of 1,155 worldwide
  4. High-efficiency prime editing with optimized, paired pegRNAs in plants
    Nature Biotechnology2021CN
    Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology and University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
    322citations, #34 of 1,155 worldwide
  5. Programmed genome editing by a miniature CRISPR-Cas12f nuclease
    Nature Chemical Biology2021CNGB
    ShanghaiTech University, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences and Northwest A&F University
    272citations, #49 of 1,155 worldwide

"Led from China": at least half the author credit is Chinese. Reviews are spotted by OpenAlex's paper type and by their titles, so a few may slip through.

Where China leads within biotechnology, and where it does not

China leads 17 of 42 specialist areas. Six are too close to call. The United States leads 19.

Share of the sub-area's papers in the top 10%: China against the strongest other country

Terpenoids and carotenoidsSynthetic biology, 65 papers
+57.2 pts
Plant natural products and other specialised metabolitesSynthetic biology, 91 papers
+51.8 pts
Amino acids, bulk chemicals, biofuels and plastic upcyclingSynthetic biology, 98 papers
+50.5 pts
CRISPR-based diagnostics and biosensingGene editing, 114 papers
+47.8 pts
Cancer and tumour microenvironmentGenome sequencing, 96 papers
+40.7 pts
One-carbon and CO2 feedstocks (incl. cyanobacteria)Synthetic biology, 41 papers
+30.0 pts
Antimicrobial peptidesNew antibiotics and antivirals, 315 papers
+29.1 pts
Host organisms and chassis development (no single product)Synthetic biology, 89 papers
+26.8 pts
Genome engineering tools for microbes and plantsSynthetic biology, 42 papers
+22.6 pts
Precision fermentation and food ingredientsSynthetic biology, 34 papers
+21.2 pts
Alternative antibacterials (nanomaterials, metals, phages)New antibiotics and antivirals, 45 papers
+14.9 pts
Plant, crop and agricultural genome editingGene editing, 212 papers
+11.2 pts
General reviews and regulationGene editing, 121 papers
+11.1 pts
Base editingGene editing, 67 papers
+10.2 pts
AI and computational drug discovery (incl. docking)New antibiotics and antivirals, 144 papers
+9.7 pts
Resistance mechanisms, epidemiology and clinical treatmentNew antibiotics and antivirals, 83 papers
+8.7 pts
mRNA cancer vaccines and immunotherapymRNA vaccines and therapeutics, 80 papers
+7.2 pts
DNA, RNA and protein design (incl. machine learning)Synthetic biology, 30 papers
+5.7 pts
Nanoparticle drug delivery beyond mRNAmRNA vaccines and therapeutics, 41 papers
+1.6 pts
Automation, biofoundries, standards and metabolic modelsSynthetic biology, 48 papers
United StatesUS
Prime editingGene editing, 68 papers
United StatesUS
COVID-19 antiviral drugs (protease and polymerase inhibitors)New antibiotics and antivirals, 84 papers
United StatesUS
New antibiotic classes and natural-product discoveryNew antibiotics and antivirals, 69 papers
United StatesUS
Genome assembly, short-read sequencing and bioinformaticsGenome sequencing, 75 papers
United StatesUS
SARS-CoV-2 biology, variants and antibody escapeNew antibiotics and antivirals, 31 papers
United StatesUS
Genetic circuits and engineered mammalian cellsSynthetic biology, 49 papers
United StatesUS
Single-cell RNA-seq analysis methods and AI modelsGenome sequencing, 159 papers
United StatesUS
Other mRNA therapeutics and platform reviewsmRNA vaccines and therapeutics, 112 papers
United StatesUS
Spatial transcriptomicsGenome sequencing, 84 papers
United StatesUS
Long-read and nanopore sequencingGenome sequencing, 76 papers
United StatesUS
Therapeutic gene editing and gene therapyGene editing, 107 papers
United StatesUS
Delivery of gene editors (nanoparticles, viral vectors)Gene editing, 89 papers
United StatesUS
Lipid nanoparticle chemistry, formulation and stabilitymRNA vaccines and therapeutics, 198 papers
United StatesUS
Cell atlases of tissues, development and non-cancer diseaseGenome sequencing, 78 papers
United StatesUS
Targeted delivery to organs and cellsmRNA vaccines and therapeutics, 157 papers
United StatesUS
Off-target effects, DNA repair and editing safetyGene editing, 91 papers
United StatesUS
New CRISPR systems, RNA editing and epigenome editingGene editing, 160 papers
United StatesUS
Vaccine safety (myocarditis, side effects)mRNA vaccines and therapeutics, 45 papers
United StatesUS
Responses in immunocompromised and special patient groupsmRNA vaccines and therapeutics, 35 papers
United StatesUS
COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness in populationsmRNA vaccines and therapeutics, 58 papers
United StatesUS
Immune responses to mRNA vaccines and variant escapemRNA vaccines and therapeutics, 144 papers
United StatesUS
CRISPR screens and functional genomicsGene editing, 67 papers
United StatesUS
The numbers behind the chart
Sub-areaTechnologyPapersChinaStrongest other country
Terpenoids and carotenoidsSynthetic biology6563.0% (1st)India 5.8%
Plant natural products and other specialised metabolitesSynthetic biology9158.8% (1st)United States 7.0%
Amino acids, bulk chemicals, biofuels and plastic upcyclingSynthetic biology9860.6% (1st)United States 10.1%
CRISPR-based diagnostics and biosensingGene editing11461.6% (1st)United States 13.8%
Cancer and tumour microenvironmentGenome sequencing9658.7% (1st)United States 18.0%
One-carbon and CO2 feedstocks (incl. cyanobacteria)Synthetic biology4141.4% (1st)South Korea 11.4%
Antimicrobial peptidesNew antibiotics and antivirals31536.8% (1st)United States 7.7%
Host organisms and chassis development (no single product)Synthetic biology8942.9% (1st)United States 16.1%
Genome engineering tools for microbes and plantsSynthetic biology4242.3% (1st)United States 19.7%
Precision fermentation and food ingredientsSynthetic biology3435.5% (1st)United States 14.3%
Alternative antibacterials (nanomaterials, metals, phages)New antibiotics and antivirals4527.3% (1st)Australia 12.4%
Plant, crop and agricultural genome editingGene editing21229.6% (1st)United States 18.4%
General reviews and regulationGene editing12125.5% (1st)United States 14.4%
Base editingGene editing6736.3% (1st)United States 26.1%
AI and computational drug discovery (incl. docking)New antibiotics and antivirals14429.0% (1st)United States 19.3%
Resistance mechanisms, epidemiology and clinical treatmentNew antibiotics and antivirals8320.0% (1st)United States 11.3%
mRNA cancer vaccines and immunotherapymRNA vaccines and therapeutics8036.5% (1st)United States 29.3%
DNA, RNA and protein design (incl. machine learning)Synthetic biology3034.0% (1st)United States 28.3%
Nanoparticle drug delivery beyond mRNAmRNA vaccines and therapeutics4128.1% (1st)United States 26.5%
Automation, biofoundries, standards and metabolic modelsSynthetic biology4824.7% (2nd)United States 25.2%
Prime editingGene editing6832.2% (2nd)United States 34.1%
COVID-19 antiviral drugs (protease and polymerase inhibitors)New antibiotics and antivirals8427.6% (2nd)United States 30.3%
New antibiotic classes and natural-product discoveryNew antibiotics and antivirals6916.1% (2nd)United States 20.8%
Genome assembly, short-read sequencing and bioinformaticsGenome sequencing7518.7% (2nd)United States 25.4%
SARS-CoV-2 biology, variants and antibody escapeNew antibiotics and antivirals3128.5% (2nd)United States 35.3%
Genetic circuits and engineered mammalian cellsSynthetic biology4926.2% (2nd)United States 34.6%
Single-cell RNA-seq analysis methods and AI modelsGenome sequencing15927.5% (2nd)United States 38.1%
Other mRNA therapeutics and platform reviewsmRNA vaccines and therapeutics11214.0% (2nd)United States 25.7%
Spatial transcriptomicsGenome sequencing8428.1% (2nd)United States 40.7%
Long-read and nanopore sequencingGenome sequencing768.2% (3rd)United States 25.6%
Therapeutic gene editing and gene therapyGene editing10718.1% (2nd)United States 35.9%
Delivery of gene editors (nanoparticles, viral vectors)Gene editing8920.1% (2nd)United States 38.7%
Lipid nanoparticle chemistry, formulation and stabilitymRNA vaccines and therapeutics19815.1% (2nd)United States 34.0%
Cell atlases of tissues, development and non-cancer diseaseGenome sequencing7818.6% (2nd)United States 39.4%
Targeted delivery to organs and cellsmRNA vaccines and therapeutics15722.6% (2nd)United States 51.7%
Off-target effects, DNA repair and editing safetyGene editing9115.2% (2nd)United States 44.5%
New CRISPR systems, RNA editing and epigenome editingGene editing16018.8% (2nd)United States 51.6%
Vaccine safety (myocarditis, side effects)mRNA vaccines and therapeutics454.4% (7th)United States 40.3%
Responses in immunocompromised and special patient groupsmRNA vaccines and therapeutics35not in the top 8United States 38.6%
COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness in populationsmRNA vaccines and therapeutics58not in the top 8United States 45.2%
Immune responses to mRNA vaccines and variant escapemRNA vaccines and therapeutics1442.7% (5th)United States 57.6%
CRISPR screens and functional genomicsGene editing676.0% (3rd)United States 66.0%

Specialist areas sorted by an AI model reading each paper (92% agreement with hand labels).

The universities behind China's lead

Zhejiang University is in the world's top ten in four of the five areas, more than any other Chinese institution.

  1. Zhejiang University5th in mRNA vaccines and therapeutics, 3rd in synthetic biology, 7th in genome sequencing, 3rd in new antibiotics and antivirals
  2. Chinese Academy of Sciences6th in gene editing, 2nd in synthetic biology, 8th in new antibiotics and antivirals
  3. Jiangnan University1st in synthetic biology
  4. Northeast Agricultural University1st in new antibiotics and antivirals
  5. Peking University3rd in genome sequencing
  6. Tianjin University of Science and Technology4th in synthetic biology
  7. Shandong University4th in new antibiotics and antivirals
  8. Yangzhou University5th in new antibiotics and antivirals

Who China writes its top papers with

  1. USUnited States225
  2. GBUnited Kingdom31
  3. AUAustralia16
  4. MOMacao14
  5. DKDenmark10

Questions

Which country leads biotech research, China or the United States?

As of October 2026, China leads two of the five biotech areas tracked here, by share of the most cited research papers from 2021–2025: synthetic biology (45.7%) and new antibiotics and antivirals (30.3%). The United States leads gene editing (32.2%), mRNA vaccines and therapeutics (38.7%) and genome sequencing (33.6%).

How do Canada, India, the UK and other countries rank in biotech research?

Their best placings: Canada joint 4th in mRNA vaccines and therapeutics, India 3rd in new antibiotics and antivirals, the United Kingdom 3rd in genome sequencing, South Korea 3rd in synthetic biology, Germany 3rd in mRNA vaccines and therapeutics and Japan joint 4th in mRNA vaccines and therapeutics. Pick any country at the top of the page to see its rank in each area.

Is China's share of top biotech research growing?

In three of five areas, comparing 2021–2023 with 2024–2025: gene editing from 23.5% to 33.0%, mRNA vaccines and therapeutics from 9.8% to 25.1% and new antibiotics and antivirals from 27.1% to 35.1%. It held steady in synthetic biology (44.8% to 46.6%) and genome sequencing (27.4% to 27.9%).

Which Chinese universities lead biotech research?

Zhejiang University is in the world's top ten in four of the five areas, more than any other Chinese institution. Others in a world top ten include Chinese Academy of Sciences, Jiangnan University and Northeast Agricultural University.

What is China's most cited biotech study?

"CellMarker 2.0: an updated database of manually curated cell markers in human/mouse and web tools based on scRNA-seq data" (2022), with 1,264 citations, is the most cited original study led from China in 2021–2025 across these five areas. Counting reviews, it is "Single‐cell RNA sequencing technologies and applications: A brief overview" (2022), a review with 1,272 citations.

What does this measure, and what does it not?

Each country's share of the 10% most cited research papers published 2021–2025, with each paper's credit split between its authors' countries. Five technologies stand for biotechnology here: gene editing (CRISPR and the tools that followed it), mRNA vaccines and medicines, synthetic biology (engineering cells and microbes to make things), genome sequencing, and new antibiotics and antivirals. It does not measure drug approvals, clinical trials, companies, manufacturing, investment or health outcomes. How it's measured.

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<iframe src="https://worldtechrankings.com/embed/china-biotech/" title="China in biotechnology research, by year" width="100%" height="560" style="border:0" loading="lazy"></iframe>

Cite it

Hamadeh, K. (2026). China in biotechnology research. World Tech Rankings. Data: OpenAlex, pulled 24 October 2026. https://worldtechrankings.com/china/biotech/

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How this is measured

Most cited papers
For each technology and year, the 10% of papers that other researchers cite most, from OpenAlex, an open catalogue of research. Ranking within each year stops older papers crowding out newer ones.
A country's share
Each paper's credit is split between its authors' countries: a paper with two Chinese and two American authors counts half to each. A country's share is its credit divided by all credit.
The top 1%
The same, for the 1% most cited papers: a tenth as many papers, so it moves more with a few of them.
Home-country citations
Citations from a paper's own country beyond what the country's size in the field predicts. Removing them is a test of whether a lead rests on self-citation.
Sub-areas
Each top paper is sorted into one sub-area by an AI model reading its title and abstract, checked against 200 hand-labelled papers (92% agreement).
Definitions
The keywords and topic lists for synthetic biology, genome sequencing and new antibiotics and antivirals have not yet been reviewed by hand; their top papers were checked for relevance by AI.
What it is not
Five technologies stand for biotechnology here: gene editing (CRISPR and the tools that followed it), mRNA vaccines and medicines, synthetic biology (engineering cells and microbes to make things), genome sequencing, and new antibiotics and antivirals. It does not measure drug approvals, clinical trials, companies, manufacturing, investment or health outcomes. Research leadership and industrial leadership can differ.

Data: OpenAlex, pulled 24 October 2026; definition version 0.5. Every number on this page is recomputed from the data on each update. Full method.

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