China university sets up country's 1st sci-fi academy

A university in southwest China's Sichuan province on Sunday set up the country's first science fiction research academy.

The Sichuan University and Sichuan Association for Science and Technology jointly established the China Science Fiction Research Academy at the closing of the 5th China (Chengdu) International Science Fiction Conference in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province.

The academy, run by the university's literature and journalism school, will focus on the research of both domestic and overseas science fiction.

Li Yi, dean of the school, said the academy will train a team of young and middle-aged researchers in the fields of sci-fi literature, sci-fi culture, sci-fi communication and sci-fi industry.

Li said the university is one of the birthplaces of contemporary science fiction in China, producing a number of contemporary sci-fi masters. It now has a number of teachers engaged in sci-fi translation and criticism.

The school, together with the Science Fiction World magazine publisher, is expected to launch the China Science Fiction Review, the first sci-fi academic journal in China, early next year.

China's sci-fi industry reported a development boom last year. It generated an output value of 45.6 billion yuan ($6.5 billion) in 2018, up 2.26 times from the figure in 2017, according to a sci-fi industry report released at the 2019 China Science Fiction Conference earlier this month.