Despite US Restrictions, China Takes Overwhelming Lead in Semiconductor Research

Nine out of Top Ten Institutions in Publications and Citations Are Chinese
No US Institutions in the Top Ten
Export Controls Alone May Not Secure US Advantage

Although the United States is tightening its semiconductor export controls against China, a recent study has found that Chinese universities and researchers are now leading the world in semiconductor design and manufacturing research, surpassing the US.

According to a report published in March by the Center for Emerging Technology Observatory (ETO) at Georgetown University in the US, nine out of the top ten institutions with the highest number of English-language semiconductor research papers published between 2018 and 2023 were Chinese institutions. During this period, eight out of the ten institutions producing the most highly cited papers (top 10% by annual citations) were also Chinese universities.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) published more than 14,300 chip-related papers during this period, ranking first in both total publications and citations. The University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS), affiliated with CAS, ranked second in total publications with approximately 7,850 papers and also took second place in citations. Tsinghua University ranked fifth in total publications with 4,650 papers and third in citations.

Although US institutions ranked second globally in the volume of semiconductor design and manufacturing research papers, not a single US institution made it into the top ten for either total publications or citations. In contrast, only the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the National University of Singapore (NUS) made the lists, ranking third and ninth in total publications and tenth in citations, respectively.

Zachary Arnold, lead analyst at ETO, explained that this analysis focused mainly on academic research in new semiconductor technologies and did not consider internal industry research or patents. He specifically noted that in fields such as neuromorphic computing (computing based on neural networks) and optical computing (information processing using light), China is leading the world in terms of the number of published papers. While the US is imposing export restrictions to limit China's access to advanced semiconductor manufacturing tools in an effort to maintain its edge in next-generation semiconductor technology, China’s dominance in research is already becoming apparent. The authors of the ETO report told the scientific journal Nature that "export controls alone may not be sufficient for the US to maintain its competitive advantage."

Currently, the US and China are fiercely competing for supremacy in next-generation semiconductor technologies. The US restrictions on exports of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors to China began under the previous Biden administration. In response, Nvidia developed the H20 chip, with reduced performance for export to China, but the Donald Trump administration imposed further export barriers following the emergence of China's generative AI 'DeepSeek,' restricting even these sales.

The US Department of Commerce recently announced that new export licensing requirements will apply to Nvidia's H20 semiconductor exports to China. However, these US export control measures appear to be prompting China to accelerate its own technological development. On April 27, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), citing sources, reported that China's Huawei is developing its own AI chips with the goal of replacing Nvidia's high-performance AI chips.

The South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported, "In recent years, Chinese universities have been leading the world in chip design and manufacturing research," adding, "They are also conducting a significant portion of the basic research that could influence next-generation semiconductor technologies and give China an edge in the competition."