How many AI researchers are there in China?

As of September 2026, the index holds 135 666 researchers whose institution sits in China, 30% of everyone with a known country. Only people who published AI research are counted, which makes the figure a floor.

What do AI researchers in China work on?

The most common subject is Topic Modeling, 11% of the country's researchers. The subject where the country weighs most against the world is Advanced Graph Neural Networks.

Which institutions in China have the most AI researchers?

Shanghai Jiao Tong University (3 396), University of Science and Technology of China (3 288), Chinese Academy of Sciences (3 202).

Is AI research growing in China?

Yes, faster than the world. Since 2024, 27 676 people in China published for the first time, against 12 886 over the three years before, a ratio of 2.1 where the world sits at 1.6.

AI researchers in China | Founding Hires

The short answer

By number of indexed researchers, China ranks 1st of 40 countries, with 135 666 profiles.

Advanced Software Engineering Methodologies is the subject newcomers in China pick up fastest: 290 started on it since 2024, and its share of new entrants is 5.1 times its share in the previous window.

China counts 96 indexed AI researchers per million inhabitants, 1.7 times the world rate of 56.

What stands out

5.5% of the AI researchers indexed in China sit in a company rather than a university, half the world share of 9.7%.

The subject where China weighs most against the rest of the world is Advanced Graph Neural Networks: 2.8% of its subject assignments work on it, 1.5 times the world share of 1.9%.

China holds 30% of the researchers with a known country and 17% of the world's population, 1.7 times its demographic weight.

Newcomers since 2024 number 27 676 in China, against 12 886 between 2021 and 2023: a ratio of 2.1, where the world sits at 1.6.

Subjects

Topic Modeling is the largest subject in China, carried by 11% of its subject assignments.

Subjects of 135 666 indexed researchers in China, OpenAlex taxonomy, one person can carry several subjects.
Subject	Researchers	Share here	Share worldwide
Topic Modeling	27 776	11%	9.3%
Multimodal Machine Learning Applications	13 657	5.3%	3.8%
Natural Language Processing Techniques	12 810	5.0%	5.2%
Advanced Neural Network Applications	12 688	4.9%	3.6%
Domain Adaptation and Few-Shot Learning	8 204	3.2%	2.4%
Advanced Graph Neural Networks	7 205	2.8%	1.9%
Advanced Computational Techniques and Applications	986	0.4%	0.1%
Big Data and Digital Economy	544	0.2%	0.2%

Newcomers by year

In 2025, the last full year, China gained 0.7 times as many new researchers as in an average year of the three before; the world figure is 0.7.

Researchers by year of first publication, up to 2025, the last full year indexed.
First publication	New in China	Share of the world's newcomers
2019	2 773	21%
2020	2 674	20%
2021	3 109	20%
2022	5 061	23%
2023	4 716	24%
2024	3 639	19%
2025	2 938	19%

Institutions

Shanghai Jiao Tong University is the largest institution; with the next two it accounts for 7.3% of the researchers indexed in China.

Largest institutions by indexed researchers, named from twenty people.
Institution	Researchers	Share of the country
Shanghai Jiao Tong University	3 396	2.5%
University of Science and Technology of China	3 288	2.4%
Chinese Academy of Sciences	3 202	2.4%

Compared with its peers

The two countries closest in size are United States and Germany. Same order of magnitude, different profile.

Same measures, three countries of similar size.
	China	United States	Germany
Researchers	135 666	109 698	21 587
Per million inhabitants	96	323	255
In a company	5.5%	18%	10.0%
Early career	39%	50%	54%
Newcomers, recent against previous window	2.1	1.8	1.0

Method

A country is where the institution sits, which undercounts people who have moved and not yet published from their new address. Subjects follow the OpenAlex taxonomy and a person can carry several. Newcomers are dated by first publication. Populations are UN 2024 estimates. The index is built from arXiv, OpenAlex, ORCID and DBLP and grows every night, so counts move between two refreshes. See the atlas for the whole picture and how to find and hire AI researchers for the method behind a search.

Common questions

How many AI researchers are there in China?: As of September 2026, the index holds 135 666 researchers whose institution sits in China, 30% of everyone with a known country. Only people who published AI research are counted, which makes the figure a floor.
What do AI researchers in China work on?: The most common subject is Topic Modeling, 11% of the country's researchers. The subject where the country weighs most against the world is Advanced Graph Neural Networks.
Which institutions in China have the most AI researchers?: Shanghai Jiao Tong University (3 396), University of Science and Technology of China (3 288), Chinese Academy of Sciences (3 202).
Is AI research growing in China?: Yes, faster than the world. Since 2024, 27 676 people in China published for the first time, against 12 886 over the three years before, a ratio of 2.1 where the world sits at 1.6.