China has made substantial progress on scientific research informatization over the past several years and is developing plans to unlock the full potential of e-Science, according to China's e-Science Blue Book 2018 jointly released by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Cyberspace Administration of China, Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, National Natural Science Foundation of China, and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences on December 4, 2019. The book was co-published by China Publishing House of Electronics Industry & Media Group, Publishing House of Electronics Industry and Springer Nature. The blue book was released in conjunction with the fifth China Symposium on e-Science Development, a high-level academic event to discuss the strategy and frontiers of scientific research informatization.

First published in 2011, China's e-Science Blue Book is a biennial report focusing on the main topic of e-Science, which explores the forefront of science and technology around the globe and reviews the major achievements and the typical cases in China's e-Science research. As the first report released in English, the Blue Book 2018 provides a valuable reference source for future technological innovations and will introduce scholars and students in the area of e-Science to the latest results in China.

Apart from the introduction, the book contains 21 articles which are divided into three chapters on the broad topics of application in the frontier research of science and technology, progress of e-Science in major projects, and achievements of informatization in interdisciplinary fields. The first chapter includes 5 articles addressing the technological frontiers of Internet development and artificial intelligence, and the important role of informatization in frontier research such as China's Eye of Heaven, gravitational wave detection and space science satellite. The second chapter contains 8 articles discussing the application of key e-Science technologies in major projects such as the National Science and Technology Information System, China Science and Technology Cloud, Acoustic System of Jiaolong Manned Submersible, Beidou Satellite Time System, Three-line Stereo Aerial Photography System, information management of National Natural Science Fund and National Center for Philosophy and Social Sciences Documentation. The third chapter includes 8 articles addressing the use of information technology to support interdisciplinary fields such as agriculture, advanced manufacturing, medical science, high education, and the assembly and maintenance of complex equipment and facilities.

Jiaolong dialogue with TIANGONG-1 space station with its acoustic communication system (selected from the Blue Book, contributed by ZHU Min)

An illustration of the quantum communication experiment of "Mozi" (selected from the Blue Book, contributed by ZOU Ziming and others)

China has been accelerating the formulation of the scientific research informatization development plan in recent years. In 2016, the Outline of National Informatization Development Strategy proposed to accelerate the development of scientific research informatization for the first time. The 13th Five-Year Plan for National Informatization proposed to support the construction of the national cyberinfrastructure for research, which provides a guiding document for regulating and directing relevant endeavors at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and other academic organizations in China. Based on the strategic highlights, the Chinese Academy of Sciences has made great progress on scientific research informatization through developing core technological innovations, constructing cyberinfrastructure for research and supporting the paradigm shift of scientific research over the past three years.