China's economy is shifting from high-speed growth to high-quality development, creating an urgent need for original innovation. Several experts said that strengthening basic research is a strategic choice to fundamentally resolve bottlenecks and achieve technological self-reliance.
Global technological competition has now extended to fundamental principles and technological paradigms. Some argue that without deep basic science support, substantial progress on original paths is difficult. Complex problems at the application end often require tracing back to the source of basic research for solutions.
Regarding the paths for basic research, experts stress balancing goal-oriented and free exploration approaches. Goal-oriented research should closely tie to major national strategic needs to extract underlying scientific laws; free exploration requires long-term stable support and a relaxed environment free of utilitarian goals. The two are not contradictory but complementary, jointly serving high-level technological self-reliance.
New types of R&D institutions play a unique role in basic research. Taking the Zhongguancun Artificial Intelligence Research Institute as an example, it uses an integrated platform of industry, academia, research, innovation and investment to directly derive research topics from real industry problems and then push solutions back to industry for verification, thereby connecting the chain from basic research to commercialization.
On research funding, China's basic research expenditure reached 277.8 billion yuan in 2025, exceeding 7% of total R&D spending, but still lags behind some innovative countries. Experts recommend using targeted entrustment and stable support mechanisms for strategically oriented research; for free exploration projects, while incentivizing top breakthroughs, broad participation should also be ensured, especially addressing the difficulties young researchers face in obtaining resources early in their careers.
Currently, basic research funding relies mainly on government finance, with enterprises showing weak willingness to invest in high-risk, long-cycle research. To address this, a joint funding model involving enterprises or industry alliances with the National Natural Science Foundation can be promoted, where problems are collaboratively defined and resources jointly invested. Fudan University has built a coordinated investment system of a sci-tech innovation fund-of-funds, investment funds, and special funds, and established 119 university-enterprise joint laboratories to promote deep integration of innovation and industry chains.
Evaluation system reform is also a focus of discussion. Basic research involves long cycles and high uncertainty, making it difficult to measure simply with quantitative indicators. Experts believe that professional judgment should be restored, with genuine small-peer review emphasizing originality and long-term potential. Meanwhile, implicit outputs such as methodologies, tools, and datasets generated during research should be formally recognized, and a scientific mechanism for tolerating failure and exit should be established.
Creating a better environment for young talent is equally crucial. Experts suggest providing stable resource support and giving them opportunities to participate in major tasks; allowing young researchers to initiate their own projects and cultivate their ability to define problems and lead research. Assessment requirements should match the level of support provided, avoiding using papers as the sole criterion.