China on Sunday released a list of what it has determined to be the 30 most pressing scientific questions, engineering challenges and industrial technology bottlenecks facing the nation's development.

The China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) made the announcement of the list, the eighth of its kind since 2018, during its 27th annual meeting.

People visit the "AI+" demonstration area at the Zhongguancun Exhibition Center in Beijing, capital of China, June 20, 2025. (Xinhua/Ju Huanzong)

A rigorous selection process was overseen by 80 national scientific societies, with its initial phase seeing 56 eminent strategic scientists nominate 90 issues spanning 10 major fields, including the basic sciences and manufacturing technology, before finalizing the list of 30 priorities, according to CAST.

The carefully selected roster lists the country's top 10 frontier science problems, including the topological and geometric classification of manifolds, as well as the properties and origin of mass of the Higgs boson.

The top 10 engineering technology challenges involve breakthrough applications, with notable entries including those related to integrated algorithms for the design-simulation-manufacturing of complex models, as well as AI-streamlined network systems that integrate communication and intelligence.

CAST also announced China's top 10 industrial technology issues, which require a focus on overcoming critical manufacturing and application barriers, with priority areas including autonomous mining technologies for the utilization of deep-space resources, as well as brain function assessment and closed-loop, brain-computer intelligent intervention.

Keyword: AI

Notably, the fusion of AI and diverse scientific disciplines is a critical pathway to solving fundamental challenges, spanning secure communication networks and advanced health care solutions.

Leading the list of the top 10 problems in frontier science, which were chosen by scientists working in the field, is establishing "new theories and protective frameworks for AI security from a cryptographic perspective," according to CAST.

As AI advances rapidly globally, its security vulnerabilities are becoming increasingly critical. Cryptographic approaches to security offer a promising shift from reactive defenses to mathematically verifiable security paradigms.

"Cryptography plays a dual role," explained Wang Xiaoyun, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

"On one hand, it is crucial to protecting the privacy of data and information within AI systems. On the other hand, cryptographic principles like provable security frameworks can help combat threats like deepfakes, ensuring AI remains reliable, safe and controllable," Wang said.

Noting that cryptographic research for AI security is an emerging, interdisciplinary frontier field while global research is advancing concurrently, Wang said, "By nominating this problem, we hope to draw the attention of more experts in both AI and cryptography to this evolving field."

The list of the top 10 engineering technology challenges also features an AI-centric communication solution: creating AI-streamlined network systems integrating communication and intelligence.

Zhang Ping, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, highlighted the current bottlenecks plaguing communication systems.

"The field faces theoretical limitations, a lack of inherent intelligence, and inflexibility, struggling to meet the demand for pervasive intelligence and sustainable development," Zhang noted.

AI-streamlined networks offer novel system architecture by merging communication deeply with AI, significantly simplifying design.

"The fundamental challenge in communication is that wider bandwidth and higher speeds demand more resources," Zhang said.

"It's like expanding roads -- more lanes or wider roads require more land. Evolving toward AI-powered natural interaction provides a new engine to reduce resource consumption and waste of computing power in communication systems," he added.

The listed medical technology challenges also feature AI integration. One key industrial technology issue focuses on brain function assessment and closed-loop, brain-computer intelligent intervention, proposing the use of multimodal neuroimaging combined with AI analysis and brain-computer interfaces to enhance neural plasticity and reorganization for stroke rehabilitation.

This year's initiative uniquely paired senior strategic scientists with younger counterparts, who served as academic secretaries and were involved in interpreting and refining the nominated problems.

This approach aimed to ensure authoritative selection while actively cultivating the next generation of research talent, CAST said.