China beefs up long-term support for basic research

China has stepped up investment in basic research and expanded support for young scientists this year, with the central government allocating a record 116.94 billion yuan (about 17.33 billion U.S. dollars) for basic research, a 16.3-percent year-on-year increase.

This year, China has steadily increased investment in basic research while strengthening support and safeguards for scientific endeavors.

At the same time, the country has actively encouraged private capital to participate in scientific research and innovation, accelerating the formation of a diversified funding structure for basic research.

Recently, south China's Guangdong Province announced a proposed list of the first batch of non-consensus projects for basic and applied basic research to be supported, with funding of up to 2 million yuan per project.

The initiative focuses on supporting young leading researchers under the age of 35 in conducting original and disruptive innovative research.

Zhou Xiaoxia, an associate researcher at the Institute of Eco-environmental and Soil Sciences under the Guangdong Academy of Sciences, has been included in the proposed project list. Previously, her research on blocking heavy metal contamination in rice struggled to pass conventional reviews and secure funding due to a lack of established precedents.

"Without this non-consensus project, the idea we proposed would never have been approved. It provides young scientists like us with an excellent platform to think freely and work diligently," she said.

Official data shows that this year, the central government has allocated a budget of nearly 116.94 billion yuan for basic research, representing a 16.3-percent increase over last year's actual spending and greatly outpacing the overall 10-percent growth rate of science and technology budget.

To improve the diversified funding mechanism, this year, the central government has leveraged fiscal funds through various support policies such as transfer payments and tax incentives to encourage local governments and enterprises to participate in basic research.

In 2026, the National Natural Science Foundation of China and a pharmaceutical company in east China's Jiangsu Province established a 77 million yuan joint fund with a 1:10 matching ratio, specifically to empower basic medical research.

Eight leading enterprises in Jiangsu have participated in joint research funding projects this year, leveraging 124 million yuan in social capital.

Moving forward, the central government will strengthen its long-term and stable support for basic research, gradually increase the proportion of funding allocated to it, and improve the diversified investment system. It will also cultivate and expand the pool of young researchers while continuously enhancing China's capacity for original innovation.

China beefs up long-term support for basic research

Melting permafrost, increasing geographical disasters, and water shortage triggered by rising global temperatures are affecting the operation of Alpine huts, one of Switzerland's most cherished institutions, according to Schweizer Alpen-Club (SAC).

Alpine huts are central to Switzerland's mountain culture and tourism economy. They provide essential shelter, unique hospitality, and historical preservation across the Swiss Alps.

Originally built in late 19th and early 20th centuries as shelters for scientists and explorers, Swiss Alpine huts are now havens for hikers.

Most Alpine huts sit on permanently frozen ground, which acts like natural concrete stratum to keep mountain terrain stable.

As global temperature keeps rising, melting permafrost is loosening the foundation of roughly 40 percent of mountain huts, according to SAC.

Currently, about half of the Swiss mountain huts still offer spectacular views of snow-capped mountains and glaciers, but scientists predict that most of these glaciers will disappear by the end of this century.

"We can see from our mountain hut that every year, the glaciers in front of us keep melting and are becoming smaller and smaller," said a hut runner.

SAC said mountain regions bear the serious impacts of climate change.

"It's the hut that has also been shut down. You see, this is built on permafrost. You see, here, the cracks and you try to have it together stable with steel, but it didn't work anymore. Mountain regions experience climate change much stronger than global average. You see here, we have had, in the last 60 years, maybe roughly one degree on the global average rising temperatures. But in Switzerland and in the Alps, it's the double," said Philippe Wager, head of huts and environment at SAC.

High-altitude mountain huts are also facing water crisis as they rely primarily on winter snowpack and summer glacial meltwater as the major water source.

Melting glaciers and warmer winters, which bring less snow every year, jointly contribute to less water supplies.

Meanwhile, increasing geological hazards such as rockfalls, landslides and mudflows are also threatening safety of mountain huts and hikers.

Climate change threatens Swiss Alpine huts