Chinese Academy of Sciences unveils 15th Five-Year Plan, prioritizing AI, quantum tech

Beijing, September 28 (China News Service) — The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) announced on September 28 that its "15th Five-Year" development plan — serving as both an overarching "roadmap" and a detailed "construction blueprint" for the next five years — has been officially released. The plan highlights four distinctive features: strengthening systematic scientific and technological innovation, actively embracing the strategic opportunities of artificial intelligence (AI) development, deepening the integration of technological and industrial innovation, and advancing the coordinated development of education, science and technology, and talent.

1. Strengthening Systematic Scientific and Technological Innovation

CAS aims to consolidate efforts to seize strategic high ground in science and technology. Key priorities include:

• Priority areas: Integrated circuits, AI, quantum technology, life sciences and biotechnology, brain-computer interfaces, and controlled nuclear fusion.
• Strategic high-tech fields: Optoelectronics, space, information, marine, energy, and materials.
• Sustainable development fields: Agriculture, earth and resources, atmospheric and marine sciences, and ecological environment.
• Basic and frontier interdisciplinary fields: Mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, and geosciences.

A series of key development directions will be refined to enhance strategic, forward-looking, and systematic planning.

Regional layout: CAS will accelerate the construction of a "3+4+X" tiered regional layout system, with Beijing (Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei), Shanghai (Yangtze River Delta), and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area as strategic highlands; Hefei, Chengdu-Chongqing, Wuhan, and Xi'an as strategic pivots; and several key regions as strategic nodes. This aims to provide systematic scientific and technological support for major national regional strategies.

Research organization and management: A networked, matrix-based research organization system will be established, relying on key fields, major tasks, and major platforms. CAS will explore the formation of domain-based "research consortia," task-oriented "large-scale攻坚 teams," and platform-based "innovation facility clusters" to strengthen cross-institutional, cross-disciplinary, and cross-field collaborative research.

2. Actively Embracing AI to Empower Scientific Innovation and Management

AI-driven paradigm shifts in scientific research will be a key lever for accelerating breakthroughs. A dedicated chapter in the plan outlines efforts to comprehensively promote AI empowerment across key scientific fields and reshape research organization and management through intelligent systems.

• AI empowerment in key fields: CAS will leverage its foundational strengths in mathematics, computer science, control science, and scientific data to strengthen the layout and construction of new scientific infrastructure, including the "Panshi" scientific foundation model, intelligent scientist systems, scientific corpora, and scientific data centers. This will accelerate the formation of efficient and coordinated support capabilities.
• Digital and intelligent upgrades: Major national scientific infrastructure and field observation stations will be upgraded toward digitalization, networking, and intelligence. Efforts will also focus on data aggregation, standardization, security, and integrated application to support scientific research and major missions.
• "Smart CAS" initiative: A dedicated task will build an integrated intelligent research management platform, serving as a center for resource allocation, command and dispatch of innovation activities, and collaborative integration of research management information. A comprehensive, dynamically updated, and precisely profiled "capability map" will be created to strengthen the data foundation and decision-making basis for intelligent research management.

3. Deepening Integration of Technological and Industrial Innovation

CAS will accelerate the cultivation and development of new productive forces. This includes improving the intellectual property management system, actively exploring diversified technology transfer methods, and smoothing the pathway for科技成果 to move from the "laboratory" to the "production line."

4. Coordinated Development of Education, Science and Technology, and Talent

CAS will accelerate the building of a national strategic talent force. Key measures include:

• Forming "assault teams" to seize strategic high ground in science and technology.
• Building "hubs" to attract high-level talent from home and abroad.
• Establishing "great schools" to cultivate urgently needed and scarce talent.
• Setting "benchmarks" for talent development systems and a favorable ecological environment.

Following the growth patterns of different types of talent, CAS aims to cultivate a large number of strategic scientists, leading scientific and technological talents and innovation teams, young scientific talents, and outstanding engineers.

Development Goals for 2030 and Vision for 2035

According to the "15th Five-Year" development plan, CAS has set six major goals to be fully achieved by 2030:

• Major progress in seizing strategic high ground in science and technology.
• Significant results in building a source of original innovation.
• Major breakthroughs in tackling key core technologies.
• Establishment of a national high ground for innovative talent.
• Full play of the role as a national think tank for science and technology.
• Significant progress in building a world-class research institution.

Looking ahead to 2035, CAS aims to become a world-class research institution, a national strategic scientific force with distinct Chinese characteristics, and a globally influential source of original innovation and innovation highland.

Achievements During the "14th Five-Year" Period

During the "14th Five-Year" period (2021–2025), CAS produced a number of strategic products and system solutions for major national projects such as manned spaceflight, lunar and Mars exploration, and the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System. It achieved breakthroughs in key core technologies in information technology, optoelectronic space, deep-sea exploration, and materials and energy. Major original results were obtained in frontier fields such as the origin of the universe, Earth's evolution, and the microscopic structure of matter. Significant progress was also made in the development of new drugs and high-end medical equipment.

During this period, CAS received nearly 20% of national science and technology awards, led approximately 40% of the achievements on major annual achievement lists, ranked first globally among scientific and educational institutions in the Nature Index, ranked first globally in the number of highly cited scientists for three consecutive years, and achieved a patent conversion rate of 21.1%.