According to a report released at a sideline event of the 2025 Zhongguancun Forum Annual Conference in Beijing on March 31, among 37 sci-tech innovation entities to be planned and built by the Beijing Huairou National Comprehensive Science Center, 16 of them have been opened to researchers worldwide, including 13 infrastructure projects led by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

The document, issued by the Beijing municipal government and CAS, reported the progress and operation of the sci-tech facilities at the National Science Center in Huairou District, Beijing.

Six facilities in materials science, including the Test Facility for Comprehensive Extreme Conditions, the Development Platform for High-Power and Reliable Klystron for Major Scientific Facilities, the Center for Materials Genome Initiative, the Center for Clean Energy, Platform of Advanced Photon Source Technology R&D, and the Interdisciplinary Institute of Light-Element Quantum Materials, are now open and operational. They serve fields such as advanced materials and state-of-matter control, and support the development of industries including new energy, electronic information, and high-end manufacturing.

Test Facility for Comprehensive Extreme Conditions

The Test Facility for Comprehensive Extreme Conditions passed the national acceptance in February 2025. It is an internationally advanced user experimental facility that integrates extreme conditions such as extremely low temperatures, ultra-high pressures, strong magnetic fields, and ultrafast light fields. It has completed over 1,500 experimental projects, among which one user’s achievement was selected as one of China’s Top 10 scientific advances.

As for space science, there are five innovation entities, including the Comprehensive Ground-based Space Environment Monitoring Network, the Research and Development, Testing and Support Platform for Space Scientific Satellite Series and Payloads, the Space Astronomy and Applied Research and Development Test Platform, the Comprehensive Test Platform for Advanced Transportation and Measurement Technologies, and the Headquarters of International Meridian Circle Program. They provide space environment security assurance and technical solutions for industries such as aviation and aerospace.

The Comprehensive Ground-based Space Environment Monitoring Network

The Comprehensive Ground-based Space Environment Monitoring Network is the most powerful integrated facility of its kind in the world. It passed the national acceptance in March 2025. The facility has conducted trial forecasts for the arrival time of coronal mass ejections, with an error of 1.66 hours, which is significantly better than the forecast accuracy of international mainstream models.

The Multimodal Cross-Scale Biomedical Imaging Facility and the Beijing Laser Acceleration Innovation Center serve researchers specializing in the regulation and simulation of life processes, and stem cell and regenerative medicine, providing full-chain innovation support from basic research to clinical translation for biomedicine and precision medicine.

The Multimodal Cross-Scale Biomedical Imaging Facility

Since it passed the national acceptance in March 2025, the Multimodal Cross-Scale Biomedical Imaging Facility has established an experimental environment spanning spatial scales from sub-nanometers to meters and temporal scales from milliseconds to the life cycle. It has, for the first time, achieved calcium imaging of nearly 10,000 neurons in the SCN across day and night, revealing the new mechanism by which SCN neurons achieve time encoding through collective decision-making.

The rest three are: the Earth System Numerical Simulation Facility, the R&D Platform for Technical Equipment for Deep Resource Exploration and the Collaborative Innovation Platform for Identification and Control of Environmental Pollutants. They provide intelligent means and technical support for meteorological forecasting, resource exploration, environmental protection, and more.

The Earth System Numerical Simulation Facility

The Earth System Numerical Simulation Facility is the first major national scientific and technological infrastructure in the Huairou Science Center to pass the acceptance inspection. It is well known for its large scale and advanced technologies in the world. Since its operation, the facility has won one top prize of the National Science and Technology Award and one second prize of the National Natural Science Award.

In 2024, these 16 facilities added 430,000 hours for open access worldwide, attracting international renowned universities such as the University of Cambridge, the University of Zurich, and Nanyang Technological University, as well as corporate entities like Huawei and Baidu to conduct research.

Self-reliance in science and technology leads to development, and open cooperation creates a shared future. CAS will further open and share its scientific facilities, continuously build a collaborative innovation ecosystem, break through the frontiers of science and technology, continuously enhance the commercialization of scientific research achievements, and create a world-class scientific center and innovation hub.

Sources: Bureau of Basic Science and Technology Capacity,

Bureau of Development and Planning,

and Department of General Administration,

Chinese Academy of Sciences