China's mega-science facility construction fuels its global innovation leadership

China's expanding network of advanced scientific facilities is propelling breakthroughs in research and industrial applications, reinforcing the nation's position as a global innovation leader.

Recent months have seen accelerated progress in major projects nationwide. In south China's Guangzhou City, construction has commenced on two major scientific facilities, the Cold Spring Ecosystem Research Facility and the Human Cell Lineage Facility.

Meanwhile in Beijing, several cutting-edge research installations, including the Comprehensive Extreme Condition Experiment Facility and the Meridian Project (Phase II), have recently passed national acceptance inspections. Of the 37 planned science facilities at the Huairou Science City, 16 have now opened their doors to international researchers.

A standout development is Asia's first fourth-generation High Energy Photon Source (HEPS) in Beijing, China's flagship synchrotron radiation facility, which has officially launched its joint commissioning phase, as part of the final construction stage.

This "super X-ray machine", capable of generating light 1 trillion times brighter than sunlight, will provide crucial support for cutting-edge research in advanced materials, aerospace, biomedicine and other fields.

"The facility achieves nanometer-level spatial resolution and picosecond-level temporal resolution. The experimental results already demonstrate the outstanding performance characteristics of this fourth-generation light source," said Pan Weimin, the project's chief director.

China's scientific infrastructure now includes over 60 major facilities among 77 planned national projects, with several achieving world-class status.

The progress spans diverse fields, from the agricultural "Shennong Facility" for crop phenomics research, to final adjustments of the high-efficiency and low-carbon gas turbine test facility, to upgrades at the 4,410-meter-high Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) on the Tibetan Plateau.

These facilities are yielding tangible results. Hefei's Steady High Magnetic Field Facility (SHMFF) has supported more than 3,800 research projects, contributing to breakthroughs in superconductors and pharmaceuticals.

In Guangdong Province, the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) has achieved domestically produced photomultipliers with world-leading efficiency, while the China Spallation Neutron Source in Dongguan City provides crucial data for aviation and energy technologies.

China has moved up one spot to 11th place in the ranking of the world's most innovative economies, making it one of the fastest risers over the past decade, according to the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2024 released by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

With continued strategic investment in research infrastructure, China is systematically transforming scientific ambition into technological leadership and industrial advancement.

China's mega-science facility construction fuels its global innovation leadership

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said on Monday that the situation in Iran is "under total control" following violence linked to protests that spiked over the weekend.

Addressing foreign diplomats in Tehran, the foreign minister noted that armed terrorist groups had infiltrated the protests, attempting to divert them from their legitimate course. He claimed that evidence has been gathered showing Iranian security forces being shot at, with the aim of causing further casualties. He accused the United States and Israel of exploiting the unrest to interfere in Iran's internal affairs.

Araghchi further stated that the government is closely monitoring developments on the streets, emphasizing that "the situation has come under control." He also affirmed that internet services, curtailed during the unrest, would be restored after coordination with security agencies.

The government has engaged in dialogue with merchants and protest representatives and initiated reforms to address grievances related to price hikes and currency depreciation. Iran has taken a series of actions and measures to respond to the demands of peaceful demonstrators, the foreign minister said.

Earlier on Sunday, Araghchi said that clear evidence links recent riots and vandalism of public facilities in Iran to the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad. This came after former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo mentioned Mossad agents operating on Iran's streets in a social media post. The Iranian foreign minister asserted that police are being attacked by "terrorists" acting under the direction of Israeli operatives, whom Pompeo publicly acknowledged.

The protests initially erupted over a sharp depreciation of the rial and sweeping subsidy reforms. Iranian authorities have blamed the unrest on foreign-linked agents and U.S. sanctions.

Iranian foreign minister says situation "fully under control," accuses Israeli intelligence of stoking unrest