2026 Zhongguancun Forum Annual Conference | Concludes! 21 Major Achievements Announced

(Source: Beijing Business Today)

On March 29, 2026 Zhongguancun Forum Annual Meeting released 21 major achievements. These achievements are directed toward four areas: the world’s frontier of science and technology, the main economic battlefield, major national needs, and people’s health and life. They showcase the latest results of Beijing’s international science and technology innovation center development. They not only mark the depth of China’s “no-man’s-land” exploration in the field of basic science, but also highlight the hard-core strength of empowering people’s livelihoods with technology and leading industrial upgrading. According to the “National Innovation Index Report 2025” released that day at the Zhongguancun Forum Annual Meeting by the China Institute for Studies in Science, Technology and Development Strategy, China’s national innovation index ranks 9th globally overall, steadily moving toward the goal of becoming a science and technology superpower.

Facing the main economic battlefield, etc.

On March 29, the 2026 Zhongguancun Forum Annual Meeting wrapped up with the release of 21 major achievements.

There are 5 achievements facing the world’s science and technology frontiers: the high-energy synchrotron radiation source has been completed and put into trial operation; the world’s highest magnetic field fully superconducting user magnet; the first realization of two-dimensional metals; two-dimensional semiconductor wafers with performance surpassing silicon-based ones; and the world’s first sub-angstrom-scale spectral imaging chip “Yuheng.”

Facing the main economic battlefield, 7 achievements were released, namely: an open-source intelligent computing software system for diverse AI chips—Zhongzhi FlagOS 2.0; the first ultra-wideband photonic-electronic fusion chip for 6G wireless communication across the full frequency band; a reconfigurable intelligent computing smart-node to empower China’s domestic AI ecosystem; Tongzhi Brain: charting the course for the next-generation general-purpose robots; an eco-friendly biopolymer material PHA synthesized with “special bacteria” to build a 10,000-ton production line; a green polypeptide drug to treat citrus Huanglongbing; and an interactive real-time world model.

Facing major national needs, there are 4 achievements, namely: a 175MPa ultra-high-pressure wellhead and supporting equipment to help with efficient deep oil and gas development; the AES100 advanced civil turboshaft engine; technology for solidifying and sequestering deep-sea methane hydrates of carbon dioxide; and a breakthrough discovery and breeding application against gene-based parasitic weed.

Facing people’s health and life, there are 5 achievements, namely: the first discovery of the core disease-causing functional circuit of Parkinson’s disease; “Beiniao No. 1” completing the international first batch of human implantation of flexible high-throughput semi-invasive wireless fully implantable brain-computer systems; precise intelligent manufacturing of sustained-release microsphere preparations with uniform particle size; a new path for precision drug delivery for brain diseases; and China’s first shoulder joint replacement surgical robot system.

Rushing into the science and technology frontier

At the press conference for the major achievements release session of the 2026 Zhongguancun Forum Annual Meeting held that day, Zhang Dongling, Director of Major Affairs at the Beijing Municipal Science & Technology Commission and Zhongguancun Administration, summarized four features of this major achievements release: taking on the science and technology frontier, cultivating new quality productive forces, demonstrating a sense of responsibility and commitment, and proposing to move ahead with pilot and trial implementation.

Zhang Dongling said that the major scientific and technological achievements released this time collectively showcase the courage and strength of Chinese scientists advancing into the “no-man’s-land” of basic science and frontier technology fields. A number of achievements have reached international leading levels: the completion and trial operation of the “High-Energy Synchrotron Radiation Source” enables China’s synchrotron radiation source to formally enter the 4.0 high-energy era, achieving a leap from “following” to “leading”; the world record-breaking full superconducting magnet at 35.6 tesla provides unprecedented extreme experimental conditions for material science and life science; the first realization of “two-dimensional metals” breaks the world-wide challenge that atomic-level metal materials cannot exist stably, opening a new path for electronic devices in the post–Moore era. These achievements mark that China is accelerating its march toward the ranks of innovation-driven countries.

Pan Weimin, General Commander of the High-Energy Synchrotron Radiation Source Engineering at the Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, introduced that HEPS is not only Asia’s first fourth-generation synchrotron radiation source, but also China’s first high-energy synchrotron radiation source, and currently the synchrotron radiation source with the highest design brightness globally. This “super microscope,” based on the core principle of generating light by accelerating electrons, can provide high-quality X-rays and explore the microscopic world in depth. Construction officially started in June 2019, and it passed process acceptance in October 2025.

Adhering to a people’s livelihood needs-oriented approach

“Major scientific and technological achievements released this time uphold a people’s livelihood needs-oriented approach, highlighting the upward value of science and technology, and supporting a better life for the people with inclusive results.” Zhang Dongling said.

She used “Beiniao No. 1” as an example to introduce: “By implanting electrodes with a micron-scale thickness and a main unit the size of a coin into the patient’s head, it is possible to drive an exoskeleton to move paralyzed limbs, or help patients with speech impairments reopen their ability to speak. So far, 7 human implantations have been completed. The shoulder joint replacement surgical robot system has achieved normalized remote surgery at Jishuitan Hospital, and has already completed more than 1,500 remote orthopedic robot surgeries. It covers 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities across the country.”

Liu Hesheng, Chief Scientist of the Changping Laboratory and the Department of Brain and Neurodegenerative Diseases, provided a detailed introduction at the press conference on the systematic elucidation of the core disease-causing functional circuit of Parkinson’s disease and its clinical translation and application.

Parkinson’s disease is the second largest neurodegenerative disease globally. It severely affects patients’ quality of life and also brings a heavy burden to the social healthcare system. As of 2025, China has more than 5 million Parkinson’s patients, ranking first in the world.

Liu Hesheng said, “On the aspect of theoretical breakthroughs, the team was the first internationally to reveal the underlying disease-causing mechanism of Parkinson’s disease, confirming that its essence is the specific network障碍 of the somatic cognition network. On the aspect of technological innovation, it was the first to create individualized non-invasive precision regulation therapy for Parkinson’s disease. Innovatively integrating individualized brain functional parcellation technology with non-invasive neuromodulation technology, it breaks through the limitations of traditional regulation therapies—‘one approach for thousands, and inaccurate targeting.’ In the aspect of industrial translation, it actively promotes the industrialization and rollout of the new therapy achievements. Currently, this achievement has steadily achieved an industrial closed loop: the precision brain-circuit stimulation system independently developed by the team has been deployed in Beijing and obtained approval for 3 medical device registration certificates. The related equipment and therapies have been applied on a large scale in more than 60 hospitals nationwide, with a cumulative number of treated patients exceeding 3,000 cases, and an overall effective rate surpassing 70%. It truly realizes the leap from basic research to major clinical application.”

Beijing Business Today reporter Wei Wei

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