On February 28, 2022, the High Technology Research and Development Center (Basic Research Management Center) of the Ministry of Science and Technology released the top ten advances in Chinese science in 2021: the successful landing of the Mars exploration mission Tianwen-1 probe on Mars; the successful launch of the Tianhe core module of the Chinese space station, the successful launch of the Shenzhou 12th and 13th manned spacecraft and the successful docking with the Tianhe core module; the artificial synthesis from carbon dioxide to starch; and the Chang'e-5 lunar sample reveals the mystery of lunar evolution 10 major scientific advances, including revealing the mechanism of SARS-CoV-2 escaping antiviral drugs; fast capturing the world's largest rapid radio storm samples; realizing large-scale preparation of high-performance fiber lithium-ion batteries; quantum walking of programmable two-dimensional 62-bit superconducting processor "Zu Chong Zhi"; self-powered soft robot successfully challenging the Mariana Trench; revealing the causes of bird migration routes and key genes for long-distance migration, were selected.
The selection activity of "Ten Advances in Chinese Science" is led by the High Technology Research and Development Center (Basic Research Management Center) of the Ministry of Science and Technology, and has been successfully held for 17 sessions so far, aiming to publicize the scientific progress of major basic research in the mainland, stimulate the scientific enthusiasm and dedication of the majority of scientific and technological workers, carry out the popularization of basic research science, promote public understanding, care and support for basic research, and create a good scientific atmosphere in the whole society.
The selection process of the Top Ten Progress in Chinese Science is divided into three links: recommendation, primary selection and final selection. In 2021, five editorial departments, including China Basic Science, Science and Technology Herald, Journal of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China Science Foundation, and Science Bulletin, recommended a total of 310 scientific research progress, and the recommended scientific progress was the research results officially published or completed between December 1, 2020 and November 30, 2021.
In December 2021, the High Technology Research and Development Center (Basic Research Management Center) of the Ministry of Science and Technology organized and held the 2021 China Science Top Ten Progress Preliminary Selection Meeting, and organized experts to select 30 progresses from the 310 recommended scientific advances to enter the final selection. More than 3,500 well-known experts and scholars, including academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, directors of the State Key Laboratory, members and project leaders of the overall expert group and project leaders of the relevant key special projects of the National Key Research and Development Program, experts of the former 973 Program Advisory Group and Advisory Group and chief scientist of the project, were invited to vote online on the 30 candidate scientific progresses, and the top 10 winners were selected as the "Top Ten Advances in Chinese Science in 2021".