Basic science research moves to frontline

The government announced on Jan 31 that it will increase its support for basic science, aiming to lead the world in science and innovation in about 30 years.

The State Council issued a guideline on Jan 31 saying that the government will improve planning for basic research, build more highquality laboratories, train young talent, boost international exchanges, and increase funding from more sources.

The guideline said that China will build the country into a major global center of science and an innovation leader by the middle of this century. It also vows to make a number of key groundbreaking scientific achievements and train a number of world-leading scientists. It pointed out that basic science is the branch of fundamental research in science that generates ideas, concepts and theories to form the basis to develop technologies or techniques. Progress in basic science research is key in building a scientifically powerful country in the world, the guideline said.

On international cooperation, the government will organize more international collaboration projects in key research, open national research and development programs to foreign participants, and implement science and innovation action plans under the Belt and Road Initiative, the guideline said. It has also identified 20 key tasks for the country’s researchers to improve basic science research.