China's Ministry of Science and Technology Saturday selected the country's top 10 scientific advances of 2020 on Saturday. It is the ministry's 16th annual selection.

The return capsule of China's Chang'e-5 probe lands in Siziwang Banner, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, on Dec. 17, 2020. (Photo: Xinhua)

The outstanding progress of Chinese scientists in actively responding to the COVID-19 pandemic topped the list.

Other highlights were the Chang'e 5 lunar probe's successful return to Earth carrying moon samples and the deep sea manned submersible Fendouzhe, meaning “striver” in Chinese, creating a new record in manned deep diving.

Additional key advances include the discovery of key steps in the transmission of human genetic material, the development of a transparent ferroelectric crystals with ultrahigh piezoelectricity, and the latest measurement of Mount Everest’s height.

In the field of biology, an ancient genome revealed the evolution and migration history of the Chinese population over the past 10,000 years, and researchers used big data to model the 300 million-year history of the Earth’s biodiversity evolution with the highest precision so far.

Distinguished scientists carried out in-depth analysis of the markers and intervention targets of multi-organ aging.

Rounding out the list, scientists observed quantum interference phenomena in chemical reactions through experiments.

(Compiled by Liu Tongshan)