It’s important to point out that the journal ratings have a very strong western bias with many of the top journals belonging to the Anglosphere and academia has a social component that heavily favors publications by established players. Most likely this shift is a trailing indicator implying that China has been a leader on the cutting edge of science for many years, but is now being recognized as such world wide. Sadly, many western nations have begun to target Chinese scientists as a futile attempt to maintain supremacy.