I think we are talking about "high quality‘’ science papersIt's a recurring theme with this lot in general.
High on the blah, high on the inflated padded stats (pass it around kumbaya copy-paste numbers stronk) high on the time for spreading it....but low on the quality, low on the actual info.
In fact its a recurring joke among people in the know to find a whole group of science papers from China that all count individually in the stats ("technically" separate paper)...but all are basically saying the exact same thing.
You account for all of that and its more or less par for the course from PRC.
China passes US to top output of influential science papers
Academic strength could help further increase nation's industrial dominance
asia.nikkei.com