North China's Shanxi province achieved a great deal in scientific and technological development in 2021, having ushered in a new peak in high-tech performance in the province. 

The province launched the construction of key projects for the large installation of gravitational wave detection, the energy internet and a low-vacuum tube maglev train. Moreover, the National Supercomputing Center received approval of establishment in the provincial capital, Taiyuan. 

Forty-seven provincial-level laboratories and seven new research institutions were founded during the past year.

Among them, the Shanxi Laboratory for Yellow River focused on soil and water conservation and pollution controls in the middle reaches of the Yellow River. It achieved a number of representative scientific and technological innovations, which were applied to and promoted in Hebei and Heilongjiang provinces. The lab also recycled 220 million metric tons of solid waste last year. 

The Shanxi Smart Mining Innovation Laboratory, co-built by Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies Co and the Jinneng Holding Group, released seven innovative applications and the phased results of innovative research, effectively promoting the development of intelligent coal mining.

Elsewhere, Shanxi fully tackled key and core technological bottlenecks. 

Over the past year, the province has realized domestic production of ballpoint pen tips and 6-inch silicon carbide chips, breaking a monopoly of foreign technology in those fields. Moreover, the province's F3-type hybrid wheat technology has taken the lead in the world.

Furthermore, Shanxi released 29 key core technology research projects focusing on 14 provincial strategic emerging industries and the future industries of quantum and aerospace technologies on Oct 15, according to Li Lei, deputy director of the comprehensive frontier science and technology division of Shanxi Department of Science and Technology.

The overall atmosphere for tech innovation was also greatly improved across the whole province.

Shanxi fully empowered scientific and technological talent with autonomy in the use of funds, the ownership of job-related sci-tech achievements and long-term use rights. It also pioneered the reform of the scientific and technological reward system in China, with the total amount of grants increasing to nearly 60 million yuan last year. 

The province introduced and cultivated six academicians from Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering. It facilitated the establishment of 110 university scientific research platforms and the implementation of 146 tech achievement transformation projects by top teams from Peking University and Tsinghua University. 

It also introduced teams from 31 domestic universities, seven scientific research institutions and three large State-owned enterprises to conduct research in the province.