(Yicai Global) Oct. 22 -- There is a great deal of movement among scientists between China, North America and Europe, according to a new report, which added that there is also an active inner circulation of top talent within China.

Nearly 8 percent of scientists based in Europe and North America moved there from Beijing, Shanghai or Shenzhen in the last five years, according to a report released today by the Shanghai Institute for Science of Science and US academic publisher Springer Nature.

And of those scientists living in the three Chinese first-tier cities, 3.9 percent come from these two continents, according to the report, which polled 700 top scientists from around the world.

This trend is set to increase and to be more evenly balanced across the three continents by 2025, it added.

Some 15.1 percent of the scientists surveyed in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen are considering moving to Europe or North America in the next five years, and 11.7 percent of those living in Europe and North America are considering moving to those three Chinese municipalities.

The movement of scientific and technological talents within China is also quite pronounced. Around a third of the scientists living in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen are considering moving to one of the other two cities in the next five years. This is much more than the 11.8 percent of scientists in New York, Boston and San Francisco who wish to swap cities and the 10.2 percent living in London, Paris and Berlin.

Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen were the top three cities in the world in terms of their potential for significant scientific breakthroughs, winning 13.64 percent, 11.65 percent and 11.08 percent of votes respectively, followed by San Francisco, Boston, New York, Tokyo, Singapore, London and Los Angeles.

Beijing is most likely to lead the world in terms of innovation in the fields of engineering, physics, environmental science and ecology, while Shanghai shows the most promise in chemistry and healthcare, according to the majority of scientists surveyed.

The three Chinese cities also came top in terms of the career opportunities they offer to budding young scientists. Shenzhen had the most votes, following by Shanghai and Beijing. New York, Singapore, San Francisco, Boston, Tokyo, London and Los Angeles were next in line.

Editor: Kim Taylor