【Domestic News】National Key Laboratories Reorganized: Updated Official List Released

      National Key Laboratories are scientific research and development institutions planned and coordinated by the state in accordance with the Science and Technology Progress Law of the People’s Republic of China, with the core mission of supporting the national laboratory system and focusing on major scientific and technological innovation areas critical to national security and socio-economic development.

      The reorganization of the national key laboratory system was first proposed at the Central Economic Work Conference in 2018. The 2021 revision of the Science and Technology Progress Law established these laboratories as an integral part of the country’s strategic scientific and technological capabilities. In 2022, the Ministry of Science and Technology issued the Standards for the Construction of National Key Laboratories (Trial Implementation) and approved the first batch of 20 benchmark laboratories. The 2023 Government Work Report explicitly called for the phased promotion of laboratory reorganization to establish a new national system.

      As of December 2025, more than 500 laboratories have been reorganized and incorporated into the new system. The leading or co-building universities are primarily “Double First-Class” universities, with nearly 110 such universities participating in the construction or co-construction of approximately 80% (around 400) of all national key laboratories. A partial list of laboratories led or co-built by universities is as follows: