A university in southwestern China hopes to become a driving force behind homegrown science fiction, reported state news agency Xinhua.

Inaugurated Sunday, the China Science Fiction Research Academy at Sichuan University is a collaboration between the school’s College of Literature and Journalism and the Sichuan Association for Science and Technology. It will focus on conducting research into science fiction works of both domestic and foreign origins. According to the college’s dean, Li Yi, the program will train a group of young researchers to develop “a sci-fi theoretical system with Chinese characteristics” to support the genre’s domestic growth.

The academy will also partner with the Chinese magazine Science Fiction World to publish the China Science Fiction Review — the country’s first academic journal catering to the genre — beginning early next year. This announcement came during the 5th China (Chengdu) International Science Fiction Conference, which conduced Sunday.

China’s sci-fi industry has attracted significant interest and growth, generating 45.6 billion yuan ($6.5 billion) in 2018, a threefold increase from 2017, according to a new report released at the conference. In recent years, rising stars like Hugo Award-winning author Liu Cixin and blockbuster movies like “The Wandering Earth” have set lofty benchmarks for Chinese science fiction — though some argue that the genre is still a long way from living long and prospering. (Images: VCG and IC)