Chinese scientists have set a new world record for next-generation solar cells, bringing lightweight, flexible and highly efficient solar power closer to everyday use on everything from wearable devices to space stations. The researchers achieved a certified steady-state power conversion efficiency of 28.04 percent using a perovskite-organic tandem solar cell. This tandem architecture integrates two complementary light-absorbing subcells to harvest a broader range of the solar spectrum than traditional single-layer devices.

Leading scientists pledged to accelerate the translation of research into productive forces, voicing strong support for President Xi Jinping's call to deepen the integration of sci-tech innovation with industrial innovation and build a financial system suited to technological advancement.

China on Friday put into operation a large offshore platform for controlled in-situ experiments regarding coastal ecosystems, marking a new phase of systematic, intelligent and open coastal ecological research in the country. Developed by the Institute of Oceanology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IOCAS), the facility is deployed in the Yellow Sea off Rongcheng in east China's Shandong Province. It is the country's largest open-access facility for in-situ coastal experiments.

In China, seaweed farming is both economically and strategically important. It provides food, supports coastal employment and underpins a broader mariculture economy that includes processing, seedling production, marine ranching and adjacent sectors producing with abalone, sea cucumber and sea urchin. Researchers from Qingdao demonstrate that wakame can be grown in subtropical Fujian province, opening new opportunities for seaweed aquaculture.

After decades of research to address this challenge, Academician Zhang Tao and his team proposed the concept of Single-atom catalysis in 2011, in which individual metal atoms are isolated and dispersed on a support, with each atom serving as an independent active center. The approach raises atomic utilization from just a few percent to nearly 100 percent. The breakthrough, first demonstrated with platinum-group metals and later extended to more than 40 elements across the periodic table, received the first prize of the State Natural Science Award in Beijing on Wednesday in recognition of its fundamental role in reshaping the field of catalysis.

All the ten national key scientific and technological infrastructures that have been built and put into operation in Shanghai are now open to public use. These infrastructures, which include the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (SSRF) and the National Facility for Protein Science in Shanghai, serve as important engines for the integration of science and technology innovation and industries in the city.

Chen Liquan, a newly honored recipient of the State Preeminent Science and Technology Award played down personal glory and kept coming back to one vision: Electric China. "For me, the honor isn't really the point. What matters is that the country takes Electric China seriously and gives it the recognition it deserves," he said. "What we've done so far is still far from enough."

China's top minds gathered at the Great Hall of the People on Wednesday, where President Xi Jinping stressed science and technology innovation as the path forward for Chinese modernization. He said the 15th Five-Year Plan period is a critical phase for tackling tough challenges in building up the country's strength in science and technology.

Basic research is the foundation of all scientific and technological innovation. In recent years, the CAS Shanghai Branch has worked closely with Shanghai to foster basic research. It also provides stable support for young researchers, creating an environment where long-term scientific exploration can generate breakthroughs that serve national priorities and advance cutting-edge research.

"Taotao," the world's first Yangtze finless porpoise to be naturally bred and raised in human care, celebrated its 21st birthday on Sunday. To mark the occasion, three generations of researchers from the species' conservation program gathered at the Baiji Dolphinarium in Wuhan, Hubei Province.

Two veteran scientists won China's top sci-tech award for the year 2025 on Wednesday for their groundbreaking contributions to the fields of lithium batteries and radar technology, respectively, as the country honored 258 projects and 11 experts for scientific and technological achievements. In addition to the two top honorees, 51 projects received the State Natural Science Award, 58 projects the State Technological Invention Award, and 149 projects the State Scientific and Technological Progress Award.

Chinese scientists have proposed a new framework and provided data support for accurately assessing glacier mass changes and meltwater evolution patterns in the Tianshan Mountains in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, according to the Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources (NIEER) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

A group of Chinese researchers has established a spatial distribution dataset of China's lakeshore wetlands (LSWs) with a 10-meter spatial resolution for the period from 2019 to 2023, according to a recent research article published in Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies.

China's comprehensive research vessel KEXUE departed from Qingdao in east China's Shandong Province Saturday for an estimated 40-day mission in the western Pacific, marking the 15th voyage of a shared research cruise that began in 2010. The expedition brings together scientists from more than 10 institutions, including the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ocean University of China, Sun Yat-sen University and Xiamen University.

A new study by Chinese scientists offers valuable insights for regional desertification control and ecological restoration, filling a gap in long-term, high-temporal-resolution reconstruction of desertification using annual rings from a specific desert shrub.

An electromyography (EMG) monitor device developed by a Chinese research team recently completed its in-orbit experiment. The device can be used in space for real-time assessment of astronauts' muscle status and human-machine interaction, providing key technical support for astronaut health protection and space-based human-machine interaction technology.

Chinese scientists have detected radio pulses for the first time from a young neutron star known as a central compact object (CCO) that had long remained "radio-quiet," according to their research article published in the journal Nature Astronomy.

The SMILE satellite — short for Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer — is a major joint space mission between China and the European Space Agency (ESA). SMILE studies how solar winds affect Earth's magnetosphere, using X‑ray and UV imagers to capture these invisible interactions. It was launched on May 19 from Kourou, French Guiana, and has accurately entered its designated orbit for scientific observation.