https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/rss/522362/feed The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS): A prominent Beijing-based national scientific research institution, CAS is China’s national academy for natural sciences and the world’s largest research organisation. Dedicated to advancing scientific and technological innovation, its primary mission involves exploring and harnessing high technology and natural sciences for China and global benefit. en https://assets-v2.i-scmp.com/production/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg Eve Qiao Eve Qiao China’s top state research body has put artificial intelligence (AI) and other frontier technologies at the heart of its new five-year plan unveiled on Monday, as global competition in science and technology heats up. The Chinese Academy of Sciences, the country’s highest academic institution, laid out a detailed blueprint for research and technology development aligned with the national 15th five-year plan covering 2026 to 2030. The plan focuses on innovation in areas including AI and... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3369084/china-targets-ai-and-frontier-tech-newly-unveiled-innovation-blueprint?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3369084/china-targets-ai-and-frontier-tech-newly-unveiled-innovation-blueprint?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 28 Sep 2026 14:00:17 +0000 Mario Cameira,Catherine Ma Mario Cameira,Catherine Ma https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/infographics/china/science/article/3355504/exploring-chinas-tiangong-space-station-infographic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/infographics/china/science/article/3355504/exploring-chinas-tiangong-space-station-infographic?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 23 Jun 2026 09:30:06 +0000 Wency Chen Wency Chen As artificial intelligence strains the physical limits of existing data centres, scientists and investors are turning to the ultimate speed limit of the universe for the next computing frontier: light. For Mi Lei, founder of CAS Star, a venture capital firm born out of a research institute under the state-run Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the sudden global fascination with photonics is less a surprise than a delayed validation. It is a thesis he has spent more than a decade trying to... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/tech/tech-trends/article/3355360/how-decade-long-bet-photonics-handed-chinese-venture-capital-firm-ai-windfall?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/tech/tech-trends/article/3355360/how-decade-long-bet-photonics-handed-chinese-venture-capital-firm-ai-windfall?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 31 May 2026 03:00:10 +0000 Ann Cao,Xinmei Shen Ann Cao,Xinmei Shen Say “open source” and “China” and most people will think of its world-conquering artificial intelligence (AI) large language models. Its open-source computer chips are just as significant. These chips are based on the RISC-V architecture (pronounced risk-five). At last month’s Zhongguancun Forum science festival in Beijing, experts celebrated the establishment in China of a complete RISC-V ecosystem. Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) researchers recently unveiled their latest Xiangshan processor... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/plus/news/china/science/article/3350802/china-bets-risc-v-global-ai-race?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/plus/news/china/science/article/3350802/china-bets-risc-v-global-ai-race?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 Apr 2026 02:44:47 +0000 Ann Cao Ann Cao Chinese supercomputer maker Sugon and chip designer Hygon Information Technology have called off a planned mega-merger that had been under discussion for months, in a surprise move that could complicate the country’s tech self-sufficiency efforts in the semiconductor and high-performance computing sectors. The two Shanghai-listed companies late on Tuesday said they cancelled merger talks because “the market environment has changed significantly since the initial planning stages of this... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/tech/big-tech/article/3335930/chinese-supercomputer-maker-sugon-and-chip-developer-hygon-call-merger-plans?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/tech/big-tech/article/3335930/chinese-supercomputer-maker-sugon-and-chip-developer-hygon-call-merger-plans?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Dec 2025 13:00:16 +0000 Wang Huiyao Wang Huiyao As China transitions from the 14th to the 15th five-year plan, its economic trajectory is once again under scrutiny. External commentary often focuses on the short-term headwinds from a cooling property market and commensurately lowered growth, but these challenges obscure a more important story. Beneath the surface, China has a vibrant backbone made strong by the synergistic effects of infrastructure, human capital, technology and an unparalleled commitment to a green transition. These... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/china-opinion/article/3326515/critics-are-missing-big-picture-chinas-economic-transition?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/china-opinion/article/3326515/critics-are-missing-big-picture-chinas-economic-transition?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 25 Sep 2025 21:30:08 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang Beijing and surrounding areas may have been engulfed in deadly torrential downpours in the past fortnight but a new study reveals a longer-term drying trend for the country’s major rivers. New research shows that despite many Chinese cities increasingly being hit by extreme rainfall, the volume of water in China’s rivers has fallen over 60 years, particularly in the country’s north. The researchers found that from 1956 to 2016, some 756 – or 72 per cent – of the 1,046 hydrological stations in... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3321243/chinas-water-paradox-rainfall-drenches-big-cities-while-river-run-drops?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3321243/chinas-water-paradox-rainfall-drenches-big-cities-while-river-run-drops?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 08 Aug 2025 12:00:07 +0000 Shi Huang Shi Huang In the quest to harness the power of the stars, one of the greatest challenges lies not in mastering fusion, but in finding materials strong enough to contain it. At the heart of a nuclear fusion reactor is an ultra-powerful superconducting magnet, operating at temperatures near absolute zero and under immense magnetic stress. For decades, scientists from around the world have struggled to find materials that simultaneously endure such extreme cold and extreme force. Chinese scientists have... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3320595/absolutely-impossible-how-china-created-super-steel-nuclear-fusion?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3320595/absolutely-impossible-how-china-created-super-steel-nuclear-fusion?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 03 Aug 2025 12:00:15 +0000 Zhang Tong Zhang Tong The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has barred a Chinese aerospace institute from bidding on tenders amid claims of bid rigging – the latest suspension in a year-long crackdown on military suppliers. In a notice on Thursday, the PLA’s procurement oversight department said the Aerospace Information Research Institute (AIR) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) was suspended from taking part in military procurement for goods, projects, and services. The notice said the suspension was a... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3319681/chinese-military-blacklists-aerospace-institute-over-bid-rigging?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3319681/chinese-military-blacklists-aerospace-institute-over-bid-rigging?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 26 Jul 2025 12:00:07 +0000 Stephen Chen Stephen Chen Chinese researchers have manufactured the world’s largest barium gallium selenide (BGSe) crystal, a breakthrough that could pave the way for ultra-high-power laser weapons capable of zapping satellites from the ground. The synthetic crystal, measuring 60 millimetres (2.3 inches) in diameter, efficiently converts short-wave infrared lasers into mid- to far-infrared beams that can penetrate atmospheric windows for long-distance transmission. Crucially, it can withstand laser power as intense as... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3319446/china-unveils-largest-crystal-high-powered-laser-weapons?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3319446/china-unveils-largest-crystal-high-powered-laser-weapons?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 24 Jul 2025 22:00:17 +0000 Victoria Bela Victoria Bela Scientists in China and Brazil have found the first evidence of a plant-eating pterosaur, the ancient flying reptiles that coexisted with dinosaurs. The rare find sheds light on the mysterious diets of the creatures that ruled the skies before birds and renews a contentious debate among palaeontologists. “We report the first evidence of stomach contents of a pterodactyloid pterosaur,” the team said in a paper published in the peer-reviewed journal Science Bulletin on July 1. The fossil of the... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3318792/dino-era-diet-debate-chinese-pterosaur-fossil-rewrites-menu-ancient-flying-reptile?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3318792/dino-era-diet-debate-chinese-pterosaur-fossil-rewrites-menu-ancient-flying-reptile?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 20 Jul 2025 10:00:14 +0000 Zhang Tong Zhang Tong After spending years studying advanced infrared sensors, a group of Chinese researchers has produced a device that could be used to build a surveillance network more powerful and effective than the proposed US missile defence system known as the “Golden Dome”. The Chinese technology, which is capable of unprecedented detection speeds 20,000 times faster than conventional technology, was inspired by nature’s most sensitive heat seeker – the fire beetle. Infrared sensing technology is vital for... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3318630/how-heat-seeking-beetle-inspired-infrared-tech-could-aid-chinese-defence?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3318630/how-heat-seeking-beetle-inspired-infrared-tech-could-aid-chinese-defence?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 18 Jul 2025 06:00:12 +0000 Victoria Bela Victoria Bela Chinese scientists have developed a method to turn the alcohol methanol into white sugar, which they say could allow captured carbon dioxide to be converted into food. The team’s biotransformation system produces sucrose without the need to grow sugar cane or sugar beets – crops that require large amounts of land and water resources. Their method to convert methanol – which can be derived from industrial waste or made by hydrogenating carbon dioxide – into sucrose using enzymes was also adapted... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3318025/chinese-team-says-carbon-dioxide-can-turn-sugar-offering-solution-global-problems?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3318025/chinese-team-says-carbon-dioxide-can-turn-sugar-offering-solution-global-problems?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 13 Jul 2025 12:00:08 +0000 Coco Feng Coco Feng Wuhan University has become the latest institution to join China’s push for self-reliance in semiconductors by establishing the School of Integrated Circuits, led by a scientist educated at Stanford University. Liu Sheng, a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences who earned a doctorate in mechanical engineering from Stanford in 1992, has been appointed as the inaugural dean of the new school. At an opening ceremony on Thursday, he said the school’s establishment followed “an in-depth... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/tech/tech-war/article/3317862/tech-war-stanford-educated-expert-leads-chinas-new-semiconductor-school-ymtc-support?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/tech/tech-war/article/3317862/tech-war-stanford-educated-expert-leads-chinas-new-semiconductor-school-ymtc-support?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 11 Jul 2025 11:00:09 +0000 Victoria Bela Victoria Bela China has completed a sand control belt spanning three deserts in Inner Mongolia, marking yet another milestone in the creation of a “green great wall” across the arid northern region. The last piece of straw checkerboard, a widely used method in China to stabilise sand, was placed at the southern edge of the Badain Jaran Desert on Sunday, according to state news agency Xinhua. The move completed a 1,856km (1,153-mile) green belt that also runs across the Tengger and Ulan Buh deserts, the agency... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3317376/chinas-green-great-wall-inner-mongolia-traps-three-more-deserts?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3317376/chinas-green-great-wall-inner-mongolia-traps-three-more-deserts?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Jul 2025 04:00:08 +0000 Stephen Chen Stephen Chen Since they debuted in World War I, military radios have played a vital role in sending strategic messages via electromagnetic waves, but it has always been a deadly game of hide-and-seek. The devices present a dilemma: crucial communication at the risk of simultaneously broadcasting the location of their users to adversaries, exposing forces to interception, jamming and missile strikes. But the cat-and-mouse game may soon be over. Chinese researchers have claimed a breakthrough that enables... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3317392/chinas-telepathy-radio-could-make-combat-units-invisible-electronic-warfare-edge?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3317392/chinas-telepathy-radio-could-make-combat-units-invisible-electronic-warfare-edge?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 08 Jul 2025 13:00:08 +0000 Victoria Bela Victoria Bela Chinese researchers have discovered that genetics influences the brain’s ability to maintain the crucial balance between activation and control, a key element of cognitive function. There is extensive evidence that brain criticality – the balance between neural excitation and inhibition – enhances its information processing capabilities. But despite the significance of brain criticality and its potential influence on neurological and psychiatric disorders, the genetic basis of this state had... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3316859/chinese-researchers-find-genetics-shapes-brains-critical-balance-linked-mental-ability?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3316859/chinese-researchers-find-genetics-shapes-brains-critical-balance-linked-mental-ability?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 06 Jul 2025 06:00:16 +0000 Dannie Peng Dannie Peng A team of Chinese scientists has found that betaine – a compound naturally occurring in the kidneys during long-term exercise – can slow down the ageing process. By looking at the key molecular pathways that help to reshape the physiology of the human body and delay ageing through exercise, they revealed that betaine acts as a core messenger in this process. It prevents inflammation and the ageing of multiple organs by targeting and inhibiting an enzyme called TBK1. The findings not only shed... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3316057/how-does-long-term-exercise-slow-ageing-chinese-scientists-have-answer?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3316057/how-does-long-term-exercise-slow-ageing-chinese-scientists-have-answer?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 01 Jul 2025 01:00:10 +0000 Edith Mao Edith Mao A China-led international deep-sea cooperative exploration project has won United Nations approval, paving the way for Beijing’s increased participation in global science and technology governance. The Global Hadal Exploration Programme (GHEP) aims to penetrate the mysteries of the deepest waters, in response to the UN goal of protecting and sustainably developing the oceans. The multi-country initiative, spearheaded by the Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering at the Chinese Academy of... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3316070/china-steps-deep-sea-science-role-un-backed-oceans-exploration-project?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3316070/china-steps-deep-sea-science-role-un-backed-oceans-exploration-project?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 30 Jun 2025 08:00:09 +0000 Ling Xin Ling Xin Chinese scientists have deployed a buoy-based research platform in the South China Sea that can track both atmospheric and oceanic changes – even in typhoon-force winds. Anchored 3,500 metres (11,400 feet) below the surface, the system is designed for synchronised, multilayered observations spanning 10km (6.2 miles) into the atmosphere and 1km into the ocean, according to the Institute of Oceanology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Qingdao, which led the project. The buoy – powered by a... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3316073/chinese-team-deploys-new-all-one-research-buoy-south-china-sea?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3316073/chinese-team-deploys-new-all-one-research-buoy-south-china-sea?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 Jun 2025 10:00:09 +0000 Zhou Xin Zhou Xin A United Nations agency is rallying policymakers, non-government organisations and academics to support its ethics guidelines on artificial intelligence (AI) at a time when the technology is rapidly changing the world. Unesco, the 194-member UN heritage agency that produced the world’s first – and so far only – global AI ethics standards four years ago, hosted a forum in Bangkok this week to drive the adoption of its recommendations. However, there is a long way to go before the recommendations... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/tech/tech-trends/article/3316041/un-agency-pushes-ai-ethics-standards-bangkok-event-us-china-tech-rivalry-deepens?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/tech/tech-trends/article/3316041/un-agency-pushes-ai-ethics-standards-bangkok-event-us-china-tech-rivalry-deepens?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 Jun 2025 04:30:07 +0000 Victoria Bela Victoria Bela The world’s energy demands in 2050 could be met by an interconnected global solar-wind energy system producing three times the amount of power needed at a lower cost than independent regional systems, according to a Chinese-led study. The researchers studied how to create a network drawing on regions with abundant renewable energy potential to provide energy across and between continents to areas with high needs. While an international renewable energy market could be created by optimising solar... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3315587/china-led-study-proposes-global-green-energy-network-solve-power-crisis?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3315587/china-led-study-proposes-global-green-energy-network-solve-power-crisis?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Jun 2025 05:00:09 +0000