Bibliometric characteristics of champion works of China and India

Papers that have received 1,000 or more citations, referred to as champion works here, pertaining to China and India have been studied. China had its first champion work 4 years after India had its in 1983. While India was ahead of China in the initial years, China increased its tally of champion works during 2001–2010 and has raced ahead of India during that decade. All the champion works of both the countries have been published in foreign journals except for the one Indian paper that has been published in an Indian journal. Most champion works of India have been in physics whereas it has been in biological/biomedical sciences for China. USA, Japan, Germany, England and France are some of the leading countries that India and China have collaborated with for their champion works. Leading institutions of both countries are also listed.