[Photo via VCG]

On July 8, the winners of the 2025 State Science and Technology Awards were announced in Beijing. A total of 58 projects led by Beijing-based institutions received awards, including six first prizes and 52 second prizes. These projects accounted for 27.36 percent of all award-winning general-category projects, the highest share of any region nationwide.

Chen Liquan, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a researcher at the Institute of Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, received the 2025 State Preeminent Science and Technology Award. He became the 24th Beijing-based recipient of the country's highest honor in science and technology. As the founding figure, a trailblazer and a leader of China's lithium battery sector, Chen pioneered the country's research into solid-state ionics and developed the country's first lithium battery. He also helped advance sodium-ion batteries from merely results of original research breakthroughs to the tools for large-scale application, strengthening China's strategic position in the development of next-generation battery technologies.

In recent years, Beijing has placed greater emphasis on groundbreaking "0-to-1" innovation, steadily increasing investment in basic research and fully advancing initiatives designed to strengthen its leadership in this field. As a result, the capital city's overall capabilities in basic research have been growing. In 2025, 18 Beijing-led achievements received the State Natural Science Awards, accounting for more than 35 percent of the national total. These achievements included original breakthroughs in frontier fields such as brain science and advanced materials, providing a vital source of momentum for continued sci-tech innovation.

Aligning its innovation efforts with major national strategic priorities, Beijing has been strengthening its role as an international center for sci-tech innovation while delivering a steady stream of significant research achievements. In 2025, 15 Beijing-led achievements received the State Technological Invention Awards, representing more than 36 percent of all the winning general-category projects. Breakthroughs were made in fields including integrated circuits and aerospace, providing strong technological support for high-quality development.

The city is also further strengthening the central role of enterprises in sci-tech innovation, directing more innovation resources toward the relevant enterprises.

Among the Beijing-led projects that received the State Technological Invention Awards and the State Scientific and Technological Progress Awards in 2025, 35 were either led by or conducted with the participation of enterprises, accounting for more than 87 percent of the total. Beijing is now accelerating the development of a more closely integrated innovation ecosystem in which research breakthroughs can be seamlessly translated into powerful support for industry chains.

These results are far from accidental. Beijing secured over 35 percent of the State Natural Science Awards through original work in brain science and advanced materials; won more than 36 percent of the State Technological Invention Awards in integrated circuits and aerospace; and saw enterprises lead or co‑lead 87 percent of its award‑winning applied projects. Academician Chen Liquan's lifelong contributions—from the first solid‑state ionics research to sodium‑ion batteries now scaling up for mass use—epitomize the city's ability to turn frontier science into real‑world solutions. More importantly, this well‑established system can align with innovation in a dynamic, virtuous cycle: fundamental discoveries feed into industrial R&D, corporate investment accelerates commercialization, and policy support sustains the entire pipeline. With this framework, Beijing not only celebrates past successes but also ensures that every future scientific advance can be rapidly adapted, scaled, and continuously reinvented—proving that true innovation is not a one‑off event, but an enduring, self‑reinforcing process.

(Compiled from Beijing Daily App and the International Web Portal of Beijing)