In December 2025 Reuters reported that Chinese scientists had built a prototype of a machine capable of producing advanced semiconductor chips central to western technological dominance.
Completed in early 2025 and now undergoing testing, the prototype occupies nearly an entire factory floor. It was developed by a team of former engineers from ASML by reverse engineering that company’s extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) machines.
For years China has sought to replicate this technology and produce advanced chips using entirely domestically made equipment to reduce reliance on foreign supply chains and strengthen technological independence. The breakthrough marks the culmination of a six-year government initiative to achieve semiconductor self-sufficiency, one of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s top priorities.
While China’s semiconductor ambitions have been widely known, the Shenzhen-based EUV project has been conducted in secrecy. Reuters compared the effort to a modern-day Manhattan Project, the U.S. program to develop the atomic bomb, underscoring the scale of scientific mobilization behind the initiative.
EUV represents one part of a broader shift and reflects the resurgence of “big science,” a model increasingly taking shape in China.
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The Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope, the world’s largest single-dish radio telescope. Photo from National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences |
More than a decade ago Beijing identified weaknesses in its science and innovation system, including fragmented investment, inefficient resource allocation, limited interdisciplinary collaboration, dependence on foreign core technologies, and gaps in research evaluation. In response, it increased funding and boosted output in journals indexed by the Science Citation Index (SCI), quickly becoming a global leader in research publications.
In 2020 the government moved to reduce what it called “excessive reliance” on SCI publications for academic promotions, hiring, and funding decisions, promoting instead a domestic citation system “with Chinese characteristics and international influence,” according to education news outlet University World News.
The shift followed remarks by Xi in 2018, when he said academic standards in Chinese universities should not be shaped primarily by western systems and called for independent evaluation frameworks. His remarks reflect China’s push for greater self-reliance in science and technology, now evident in how the country organizes research and carries out large-scale scientific projects.
Growing scale of research infrastructure
A defining feature of China’s state-led science model is the increase in the scale of research infrastructure, with projects often being worth billions of U.S. dollars and involving thousands of scientists. These facilities serve not only as experimental platforms but also as engines for generating data and supporting multiple industries.
China has rapidly built a network of such facilities, including the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope, widely regarded as the world’s most sensitive radio telescope, and the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory, which studies high-energy cosmic radiation.
The Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility enables analysis of materials at the atomic scale, supporting advances in semiconductors and biotechnology, while the China Spallation Neutron Source focuses on next-generation materials for batteries and industrial use. According to Nature journal, Beijing is investing heavily in national research infrastructure to strengthen scientific capacity and improve its technological position.
The strategy has produced measurable results.
Chinese research institutions accounted for more than half of top publications in applied sciences in the Nature Index released in late 2025. These projects are integrated into innovation hubs such as Beijing and the Shenzhen–Hong Kong–Guangzhou corridor, where laboratories, companies and manufacturing chains operate within shared ecosystems.
Beyond merely building large projects, China’s approach extends to integrating them into a unified system.
According to the World Intellectual Property Organization, China leads the world in innovation clusters, with 24 ranked among the global top 100, surpassing both the U.S. and Europe. The country also became the world’s largest spender on research and development in 2024, with total investment reaching $785.9 billion and overtaking that of the U.S.
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China’s southern tech hub of Shenzhen. Photo from X |
This reflects a broader shift in which science operates as a national system.
Research institutes define priorities, companies develop applications, the state coordinates resources, and the domestic market absorbs outputs. This close integration has given rise to what analysts describe as a “big system.” In this model, each component is designed to support and reinforce the others, forming an interconnected ecosystem.
By comparison, the U.S. maintains a more decentralized structure built around leading institutions and independent research centers. Large-scale science projects in the U.S. remain among the world’s most advanced, including particle accelerators at Fermilab, laser systems at Lawrence Livermore and space programs led by NASA.
However, these projects typically operate independently within specific agencies or national laboratories rather than as part of a unified industrial system.
Europe emphasizes cross-border collaboration. Facilities such as those operated by the European Organization for Nuclear Research are jointly funded and managed by multiple governments, allowing sharing of costs and knowledge. However, differing national priorities can slow coordination, and links between research and industrial production remain limited.
China is meanwhile emerging with its own model, defined by centralization and integration, with research projects embedded in industrial clusters to speed up the translation of scientific advances into commercial products.
This divergence is reshaping global technological competition. While the U.S. and Europe continue to lead in fundamental research, China is increasingly aligning scientific discovery with large-scale industrial production, accelerating its progress toward technological leadership.
