The National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) announced the country's top 10 scientific advancements for 2025 during the opening ceremony of the 2026 Zhongguancun Forum in Beijing on Wednesday, recognizing the progress in basic research.

The advancements include the discovery of lunar farside basalts originating from an extremely depleted mantle source, revealing that giant impact events may have triggered melt extraction from the lunar mantle. Based on the first-ever lunar farside samples brought back by the Chang'e 6 mission, Chinese scientists have provided key evidence for understanding the moon's hemispheric dichotomy.

Last year, a Chinese research team reported the world's first case of transplanting a gene-edited pig liver into a human body, overcoming key barriers regarding immune rejection and functional compatibility in xenotransplantation. This breakthrough provided critical data and technology for clinical translation.

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Other recognized advancements include progress in critical areas such as material sciences, controllable nuclear fusion, deep-sea exploration, chipmaking and solar cells.

Dou Xiankang, director of NSFC, said the selection, held annually since 2005, aims to encourage researchers to overcome bottlenecks and produce more original achievements in basic research, while fostering public understanding, attention, and support for the field.

The advancements for 2025 were selected from more than 600 basic research projects through expert screening, real-time online voting, and committee deliberation — a process that fully demonstrates transparency and broad participation.