BEIJING, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) — The scene in a Beijing conference room resembled a courtroom drama than a scientific review.
On one side, five experts passionately argued for a project’s potential to reshape science. Opposite them, five skeptics fired back with sharp questions about feasibility and risk. In the midst of this intellectual clash sat a young applicant, his shirt damp with sweat after two hours of intense grilling.
This was China’s new approach to funding “moonshot” research to pave the way into uncharted scientific territory, as the National Natural Science Foundation of China launched its first-ever “major non-consensus project” selection this month.
The initiative marks the nation’s new strategic pivot in the coming five years: betting big on original, even heretical ideas while addressing “chokehold” technological gaps in semiconductors, AI and advanced manufacturing.
This shift comes as China, renowned for its engineering prowess and ability to scale existing technologies, increasingly recognizes that technological self-reliance also hinges on the ability to create entirely new innovations.
Out of 63 initially recommended projects, only six advanced to this final debate stage. During the two-day session, these pre-selected proposals underwent more grueling scrutiny.
Just minutes into their defense, a team’s proposal to detect new particles in nuclear transitions was interrupted. In a grueling two-hour session — far exceeding the scheduled 30 minutes — experts grilled them on methodology, theoretical foundations and global skepticism.
“If you succeed, it could be Nobel-worthy,” a supporter declared — only to be immediately countered: “Then why hasn’t anyone else done it so many years? Could it be that the core question of your research is flawed from the outset?”
For the applicant enduring rigorous questioning, the idea of exploring this problem had been germinating for years. “As an early-career researcher, I had to hold back previously due to the high risks and costs, until this project offered a rare glimpse of opportunity.” And finally, he made it.
The three winners read like science fiction: hunting for particles that might not exist, creating artificial cells from scratch, and unraveling the formation of the first solids in our solar system.
All share traits that would make traditional reviewers skeptical: high risk, highly controversial and potentially transformative. Moreover, they are not expected to yield immediate economic returns.
Pan Jianwei, a leading Chinese quantum scientist who served on the expert panel for this selection, empathized with the applicants’ positions. “Thirty years ago, my own work in quantum information faced skepticism from many peers, and I myself wasn’t confident how far it could go.”
This week, Pan’s team published a groundbreaking achievement in quantum error correction as a cover story in Physical Review Letters, establishing a critical technical foundation for the next-gen quantum computers.
“With the nation’s growing innovation strength, we have reached a stage where we can and should begin leading in key areas,” said Pan.
“That’s why it’s essential to foster original, non-consensus breakthroughs that go beyond traditional approaches,” he added.
Such a selection is just a piece of the puzzle. Designed to embrace uncertainty, it put into practice a guidance set forth last year at the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, which “encourages high-risk, high-value basic research.”
China is ramping up investment in basic research, building ever-larger scientific facilities open to global collaboration, and breaking new ground across an expanding spectrum of fields.
Notably, four of the ten breakthroughs singled out by Science magazine for 2025 came from Chinese teams. These include an ancient human skull that rewrote migration history, heatproof rice that keeps yields high in a warming world, and a viable animal-to-human organ transplant.
The U.K.-based journal Physics World included China’s breakthrough in creating two-dimensional metals on its 2025 list of the top 10 physics advancements.
The Nature Index, released this June, reveals that China’s contribution to world-class science is advancing at a remarkable pace, surpassing the United States for the second consecutive year to secure the top spot.
“The data reflect a profound shift in the global research landscape,” said Simon Baker, chief editor of Nature Index. “China’s sustained investment in science and technology is translating into rapid, enduring growth in high-quality research output.”
“Scientific progress is inherently unpredictable, since transformation often emerges suddenly, at a certain moment, and even failures can hold significant value,” said Pan. ■
