Innovation Megaprojects

New Generation AI National S&T Megaproject

Funds Chinese-registered enterprises and research institutions doing core AI R&D under China's New Generation Artificial Intelligence national megaproject.

The New Generation AI National S&T Megaproject is administered by China's Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) through its Department of National Major Projects (重大专项司). It sits under the Innovation 2030 initiative (科技创新2030—重大项目), a separate program tier from the annual National Key R&D Programs (NKP), focused on longer-horizon, strategically critical technology areas. Applications are submitted through the National Science and Technology Management Information System at service.most.gov.cn, which is operated by MOST's affiliate institute ISTIC.

Specific award amounts, project durations, and topic areas are defined in Chinese-language application guides (申报指南) released per call. Monetary details were not accessible from the portal listing and are absent in this record. The 2026 First Batch guide was released June 16, 2026, with a supplementary notice on June 22, 2026.

Applicants must be Chinese-registered legal entities — enterprises (including technology-based SMEs), universities, research institutes, and public institutions. Applicant units register via service.most.gov.cn before submitting project proposals. Individual applicants are not eligible. Foreign institutions cannot apply directly; they can only participate as partners under the separate Intergovernmental International S&T Cooperation sub-track of NKP (see cn-most-nkp-intl-coop-rolling).

To apply, a unit must first register on the national platform, then submit a project application (项目申报书) through the portal during the open window specified in the call guide. All materials, templates, and communication are in Chinese only. The application window after guide release is typically 30–60 days; the exact deadline for the 2026 First Batch is in the guide PDF, which was not captured in this research pass.

Key constraints: all documentation is in Chinese, meaning non-Chinese-speaking teams need a Chinese institutional lead or partner to apply. The megaproject program is highly selective and mission-driven — proposals must fit the stated research directions in the call guide. Specific award sizes, scoring rubrics, and consortium requirements are only available from the per-call PDF guides on service.most.gov.cn.