>isn't really research productivity (though it would be a happy byproduct) Or the goal is research productivity and citation gaming is just the unhappy byprodu

>isn't really research productivity (though it would be a happy byproduct) Or the goal is research productivity and citation gaming is just the unhappy byproduct. Yes some motivated actors to playup PRC capabilities (ASPI/US think tanks) exist, but unless you think every western index on science and innovation, controlled for quality of citations (like Nature) are incentivized/coordinated to carry water for PRC's massive increase in research productivity in the last few years, then the parsimonious answer is PRC research productivity has gotten really good and world leading in some domains. Which should not be surprising because what OP fails to understand incentivizing citation gaming is a smart way to incentivize output, FAST, and at PRC scale output quantity has quality of it's own. If system spams research, and start off with only 2/10 good research, but leader is 3/5 good research, then PRC has nearly caught up. Refine to 3/10 and there's parity. Refine system to 4/10 and PRC leads. Emphasis being fast because PRC started focusing on seriously improving tertiary and R&D/S&T ~10 years ago and the goal was to develop capabilites fast by customary overproduction. You don't get that by slow careful growth, you do that by incentivizing easy KPIs everyone in sector can coordinate around and the product of said KPI is ENOUGH good research after byproduct of citation gaiming. Having a bunch of chaff leftover to get wheat is the point.