China boosts 2026 science funding, focusing on basic research

China will significantly increase government funding for basic scientific research in 2026, according to the newly released annual budget of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC).

The budget for the country's Natural Science Fund category is set at 41.86 billion yuan (about $6.15 billion) for 2026, an increase of 2.4 billion yuan from the 2025 spending level. The rise represents a year-on-year growth of 6.09% and reflects stronger central government support for fundamental research.

Basic research will account for the vast majority of the foundation's spending. Under China's functional budget classification system, allocations for the Natural Science Fund category will make up 81.71% of the NSFC's total general public budget expenditure in 2026.

The funding will support 18 categories of scientific programs, including general research projects, youth science fund programs, regional science funds and innovation research groups.

The NSFC was set up in February 1986 and has become a major channel for national funding of basic research.

Over 40 years, the NSFC has funded about 880,000 projects with total funding of 460.8 billion yuan (about $66.7 billion) and supported around 4.8 million participant researchers.