Facilities in place to attract best scientific minds and make province's capital an international research powerhouse
一系列重大科研装置吸引来全球顶尖的科研人员，使合肥这个省会城市成为全球科研重镇。
If people ask which Chinese cities are the most attractive to foreigners, the results of an annual poll by the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs offer some valuable insights.
如果有人问外国人眼中最具吸引力的中国城市是哪些，那么中国国家外国专家局可以提供有价值的参考答案。
The administration started releasing the poll results last year after surveying thousands of expatriates living in China over several months. The three cities to top the list in the last two surveys were Shanghai, Beijing and Hefei, the capital of Anhui province.
"Many people may ask, why Hefei?" said Yang Fan, a spokesman of the University of Science and Technology of China, one of the country's top universities and based in Hefei.
“很多人会问，为什么是合肥？”位于合肥的中国科学技术大学的一位宣传负责人杨凡说。
While acknowledging that Hefei is not as well-known internationally as the two first-tier cities, Yang said the result was not unexpected. "Our university alone received more than 1,600 visiting foreign experts last year."
It's no coincidence then, that the central government plans to make Shanghai, Beijing and Hefei national science centers. Planning documents show Hefei will focus on information technology, new energy sources, life sciences and environmental protection. Scientists based in Hefei will also aim for research breakthroughs in quantum communications, nuclear fusion, smog prevention and cancer treatments.
The city is already home to several major scientific projects, including the Steady High Magnetic Field Facility and the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak, which is key to a nuclear fusion reactor. The EAST program is key to both the China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor project and the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor project.
In November, scientists involved in the EAST project declared the facility had for the first time achieved a plasma central electron temperature of 100 million C, marking a major breakthrough for an "artificial sun", which aims to help tackle the world's energy problems using fusion technology.
At the end of last year, ground was broken on construction of major new facilities for the CFETR project in Hefei, marking a major step forward in fulfilling the city's research and development ambitions.
去年底，中国聚变工程实验堆项目的一系列重大装置在合肥开工建设，意为着合肥离它的研发雄心又近了一步。
The facilities, scheduled for completion in five years, were listed in the country's 13th Five-Year Plan for Science and Technology Innovation. "The facilities will provide strong support for cutting-edge, cross-disciplinary fields including energy, information, health and environment, and will become a user platform open to the world's fusion community," said Kuang Guangli, president of the Hefei Institute of Physical Science at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which leads the CFETR project.
The facilities will assist CFETR by providing extreme test conditions that allow research on the key components of fusion reactors, according to the institute. Many overseas scientists have participated in research at the institute due to the availability of major research facilities.
"The facilities to be built here will provide the development of new technologies for CFETR and will enable a pathway for fusion energy worldwide," said Tony Taylor, director of General Atomics, a nuclear physics institute based in San Diego, California.
Hefei has also been at the center of China's quantum information science and technology development, with the work of Pan Jianwei and his USTC team attracting attention at home and abroad.
合肥还一直是中国量子信息科技研究的中心，最受国内外关注的是潘建伟和他的团队。
Pan, a CAS academician, began putting together his team at USTC in 2001. He has been leading research and development and experiments on the world's first quantum experimental satellite, which was launched in 2016.
Pan said an exciting development in recent years has been the whole of society, especially private companies, becoming more enthusiastic about and supportive of basic scientific research.
潘建伟说他注意到一个可喜的变化，那就是全社会对于基础科研的关注和支持越来越积极。
Five private companies engaged in fast computing, precise measurements and long-distance secure communications using quantum technology have been founded in the Hefei National High-tech Industry Development Zone.
"As the new technologies are brought closer to people's lives, these companies will lead industrial development in the future," said Lyu Changfu, deputy director of the zone's administration committee.
Private sponsors donated 100 million yuan ($14.5 million) to found the nonprofit Micius Quantum Foundation in Hefei in April, which aims to promote development of quantum information science and technology.
今年4月，民营企业还捐资1亿元在合肥成立了墨子量子基金会，以促进量子信息科技的发展。
A total of 12 million yuan will be granted to 12 international scientists for their academic contributions to the fields of quantum computation and quantum communications. Six laureates, announced annually, will receive 1 million yuan each for the Micius Quantum Prize.
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