context: A social media article has sparked debate over the immense cost of building large scientific equipment. State Council called for proposals in 2018, but critics worry a lack of domestic knowledge and experience may turn some poster projects into white elephants. The largest projects will be included in the upcoming 15-year plan for sci-tech development.
China has invested over 100 million RMB since 2012 in planning the CEPC (Circular Electron Positron Collider), says Ruan Manqi 阮曼奇 Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of High Energy Physics. The CEPC complex near Qinhuangdao will be over twice the size of CERN's Large Hadron Collider near Geneva.
The project is entering a five-year, one bn RMB phase of precision engineering, says Ruan. Subsequent phase-one construction is expected to cost C¥40 bn, says Yicai. Phase-two, building the Super Proton–Proton Collider, will cost hundreds of billions of RMB, notes Wechat account CuCu. The state will provide about 80 percent of total investment, notes Ruan.
CEPC's biggest critic is physics Nobel laureate Yang Zhenning 杨振宁, says Yicai. Since 2016, Yang has argued that the vast expense takes funds from other physics research, and underlying theories on the existence of supersymmetric particles are flawed. As a result, six of eleven reviewers at an NDRC committee voted against an C¥800 million state investment in 2016, reports CuCu, admitting all high-energy particle physics experts voted in favour of it.
Discussions over funding are eroding China's main advantages over Europe, says Ruan, decision speed and construction cost.
Yicai calculates that CEPC could be ready by 2030, noting that CERN has been designing a new, larger facility called Future Circular Collider.