The Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility is a key part of the national science center, off ering a base for the city's biomedicine research and development.

The National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Science and Technology recently gave the Shanghai Zhangjiang National Innovation Demonstration Zone the approval to build a national science center.

According to the administrative committee of the Zhangjiang zone, construction on the center will be basically completed by 2020.

According to the plan released by the Shanghai government last year, the national science center is a core task for the city in its goal of becoming an international hub for science and technology.

The center will be a base to gather innovative resources and carry out research and development. It is expected to improve the innovation capacity of Shanghai by establishing advanced labs and research facilities to develop core technologies, according to the administrative committee.

The committee said the center is an important platform for the country to improve its strengths in science and technology and provide a foundation for developing a national innovation system.

The Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility, which is located in the zone and has completed the first phase of construction, is an important base for Shanghai's biomedicine research and development and has helped a number of biomedicine enterprises in the city reach globally leading standards.

A number of key science and technology projects from the national science center are being developed in the Zhangjiang zone, such as the second phase of the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility, the National Protein Science Center, Shanghai Tech University and the Shanghai Supercomputer Center.

An important part of the national science center plan is to establish globally leading basic science research facilities, which will provide long-term support for technological, economic and social studies, according to the administrative committee.

With these science facilities, the center will carry out advanced studies, seek breakthroughs in key technologies and aim to provide solutions to constraints on industrial development.

It will also highlight interdisciplinary studies, such as life sciences, applied materials, the environment and energy through an interdisciplinary innovation network.

The network will involve the participation of Shanghai's universities, research institutes and enterprises in an aim to foster globally leading R&D teams and cultivate talent, according to the administrative committee.