Abstract: Based on the SCI-E databases in ISI Web of Science, China and world outputs of scientific papers in the atmospheric science field, which are a measure of S&T competition ability, are analyzed using bibliometric method. The increase in output of scientific papers from China in the field of meteorology and atmospheric science over the past decade has been phenomenal, rising from 176 papers in 2000 to over 1000 papers in 2010, ranking third in the world. The number also means that the output of scientific papers from China in the field of atmospheric science has reached the world advanced level in the late 20^th century.