Rameez Mahesar
CHINA has avouched a significant triumph in taking over the countries in many aspects throughout the globe. Almost exactly, in the sprint of research in the current decade, China has jolted the world. For long, the country has been seriously putting her all efforts on ameliorating the research system in the universities through open scholarships. Thousands of the students from all across the globe have increasingly been hovering to the country each year. Most importantly, China, as I have conferred in one of my articles, makes them the knowledge generators. Downright truth is that, country remains atop in research with help of these knowledge generators.
It is mostly the ours youth who contribute much more towards China and the country hence has achieved the high rank. People, as usual, argue that China is guardian angel towards Pakistan, so, it offers different scholarships to Pakistani students and also provides students with hefty amount of monthly stipends so that the students can study and receive degrees with no trouble. The other side happens destitute of discussions. The eye-opening question is; why is China fervently investing on students? The answer is aforesaid ab-initio. The answer to this significant question can unriddle the hugger-mugger.
Students become knowledge generators there in China and they produce knowledge in a greater deal and thus China reaches the top. As per the statistics shown by a report concerning the publications released in 2018 by Scimago Journal Ranking (SJR), China has stood the second most research contributor in the world. The country has reached around 60,00000 publications throughout the globe. Perhaps, China has caught this triumph just by dint of the students from other countries going there in China and the country makes them their knowledge manufacturers the most. Let’s confer about the financing on research and development (R&D) throughout the globe.
The report developed by “China Power” that took the countries’ funding status on R & D from 1991 to 2016. In 1991, China was the 16th out of 42 most funding countries on research and development but in the year of 2016, it was shown as the 2nd most funds investor on research and development – this has also been confirmed through a report released by Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 2017. Ill-advisedly, Pakistan was nowhere in these 42 countries listed as the most funds investors. As far as the race between USA and China is concerned, around 2009 to 2013, China overtook the USA to count the greatest number of researchers of any single country.
Basic and the applied research are the topmost areas whereupon China spends much greater than other drivers of change for the country. The country spends 11.8 per cent on basic research and 18.5 per cent on applied research. The most significant point to think greatly of is that these proportions of the GDP of China have taken upsurge. Undeniably, China has drawn the world’s attention towards herself. China has been putting all her endeavours on more research outputs and the country has also paying her domestic scientists a cash bonus to contribute their more and more researches to international prestigious journals. As per Nature ranking, China has seen an almost 18 per cent rise in research publication for the last two years. Is China not an example for the world?
China anticipates to refurbish its processes for choosing different research projects, providing funds, and publishing outputs, as well as its systems for academic assessment and proffering awards to develop them more rational and effective. Even with limited financial resources, they design to render an adequate logistical as well as technical support for executing the basic research. Pakistani youths go to China but after they come back to their homeland, they do not reap the benefits sowing to dearth of facilities and cannot contribute in their home country as they performed great in China. Publication time is too drowsy which hampers the contributors from conducting another research study until their submitted work gets published and they are directed, by too late response, to do their work again in accordance with the journal’s policy framework, they highly fall disconsolate. This is a major stumbling block in research productivity.
—The writer is member of Editorial Board of a Russian Research Journal.
