Nation to step up its basic research

China will step up its basic research efforts, enhance innovative capabilities, increase international cooperation and improve its supervision and regulation regarding academic misconduct and unethical practices this year, China's top science official said on Wednesday.

The country will also begin formulating its science plans for 2021 to 2035, and will start evaluating 16 key scientific fields, including information technology, biology, energy and manufacturing, for their potential in pushing socioeconomic growth, said Wang Zhigang, minister of science and technology.

Last year, China made many influential breakthroughs in basic research, ranging from creating the world's first synthesized single-chromosome yeast to the launch of the China Spallation Neutron Source, Wang said.