CAST Kicks off Final Selection for 2025 Top 10 Scientific, Engineering, and Industrial Challenges

The China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) convened the final selection conference for the Top 10 scientific, engineering, and industrial challenges in 2025.

The conference, held on June 23, 2025 was presided over by Wan Gang, CAST President and head of the final selection academic committee.

The committee, comprising 23 strategic scientists, evaluated all entities based on their scientific frontier standing, potential guidance role, innovativeness, and strategic significance.

After a rigorous process of review, evaluation, and voting, the committee ultimately selected the top 10 scientific challenges, top 10 engineering challenges, and top 10 industrial challenges.

Wang Jinzhan, Executive Secretary of the leading Party members group and Executive Secretary of the Secretariat of the CAST, attended the conference.

Wan Gang noted that 2025 marks the conclusion of the 14th Five-Year Plan and the beginning of the 15th Five-Year Plan.

The CAST, as a bridge linking the government and the Party with Chinese scientific community, has been committed to meeting national strategic needs, continued Wan.

The program harnessed the expertise of strategic scientists to pinpoint the global technological frontier, and undertook activities to solicit and release major scientific, engineering and industrial challenges, added Wan.

Wan concluded that these efforts aim to bring together the wisdom and strength of the scientific community, guide researchers in conducting original and pioneering scientific research, and lay a solid foundation for achieving high-level self-reliance and self-strengthening in science and technology.

In 2025, the program optimized its workflow by inviting strategic scientists to recommend entities, subdividing the fields for recommendation and selection, clarifying the boundaries between engineering and industrial challenges, and enlisting the participation of young talents supported by the Young Elite Scientist Sponsorship Program (YESS).

Eventually, 90 challenges recommended by 56 strategic scientists entered the final list.

The CAST has been conducting the program since 2018. Previously, it has solicited 219 major challenges and made them public.

Tags: Department of Sci-tech Innovation of CAST, Service Center for Societies of CAST