On the 12th at the opening of the 2026 Pujiang Innovation Forum in Shanghai, the
National Natural Science Foundation launched a major Yangtze River Delta
basic-research joint fund. The program, part of Shanghai’s expansion of its
international science and technology innovation center to the Yangtze River
Delta, will target major regional strategic needs and back application‑oriented
basic research. It prioritizes industry‑driven problem‑setting and will pilot a
collaborative model across three provinces and one municipality featuring
unified funding, joint topic selection, shared management and coordination
project responses.
