China Accelerates Construction of Major National Scientific Infrastructure

China has expanded its network of national major scientific facilities to over 70 operational and under-construction projects, ranking second globally in total scale, according to state media reports. Major research clusters in Beijing, Shanghai, Hefei, and the Greater Bay Area are producing notable findings, including record pulsar discoveries at the FAST telescope and high-energy cosmic ray detections at LHAASO. The facilities are increasingly designed to serve both fundamental scientific research and industrial innovation, reducing domestic reliance on foreign experimental platforms.

The rapid expansion of major scientific infrastructure reflects China's effort to achieve technological self-reliance and lead in foundational scientific disciplines. Facilities like fourth-generation light sources and neutron sources provide critical experimental capabilities for quantum materials, drug discovery, and nuclear fusion, shifting global scientific workflows and strengthening domestic supply chains for high-end instruments.

China has accelerated the expansion of its national major scientific infrastructure, bringing the total number of facilities under construction or in operation to over 70—the second-largest network globally—according to a report by CCTV News published on the official Chinese government portal. Regional clusters have consolidated around key technology hubs, including Beijing's Huairou Science City, Shanghai's Zhangjiang, Anhui's Hefei, and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Recent operational achievements highlight breakthroughs across physics and astronomy. Researchers using the High Altitude Cosmic Ray Observatory (LHAASO) in Sichuan discovered that a binary system in the constellation Cygnus acts as the highest-energy particle accelerator identified in the Milky Way to date. Meanwhile, Guizhou's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) initiated a new observation cycle following a successful replacement of its steel wire ropes with domestically produced components. FAST has now discovered nearly 1,300 pulsars, outstripping the combined total of all other international radio telescopes over the same period. The development of these large-scale instruments is intended to strengthen foundational research while reducing reliance on overseas scientific facilities. In Beijing, Huairou Science City now offers nearly 20 facilities and platforms for global sharing. Its fourth-generation High Energy Photon Source (HEPS), which entered trial operation in late 2025, serves over 100 domestic and foreign research institutes and businesses, altering past dynamics where Chinese researchers depended on beamtime allocations abroad. In addition to fundamental research, these infrastructure networks are serving as catalysts for industrial applications. On Hefei's Science Island, facilities dedicated to steady high magnetic fields and magnetic confinement fusion experiments have incubated nearly 50 enterprises focused on high-temperature superconductivity, specialized magnets, cryogenics, and plasma applications. In Shanghai, 10 major scientific infrastructure platforms are driving local industrial integration, including the National Facility for Protein Science, which supported the development and market approval of several domestic innovative drugs. Construction continues to expand across major regional hubs. In the Greater Bay Area, projects such as Phase II of the China Spallation Neutron Source (CSNS), the Cold Seep Ecosystem Research Facility, and the Advanced Attosecond Laser Facility are making progress. Furthermore, after 16 years of research and construction, the High Intensity Heavy Ion Accelerator Facility (HIAF) was recently completed, marking another milestone in China's long-term science strategy.