The journal Engineering is a publication of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. The list's creation involved nominations and recommendations by engineers and technicians around the globe, numerous public surveys and final screening by the selection committee.

On Tuesday, the academy's Center for Strategic Studies and global analytical firm Clarivate published their Engineering Fronts 2021 report. The document, published annually since 2017, selected a total of 186 research and development frontier topics for nine broad engineering categories, ranging from agriculture to engineering management.

Zhong Zhihua, vice-president of the CAE, said engineering and technology is a major support for socioeconomic growth and mankind's pursuit of sustainable development.

"As our country enters a new developmental phase, we urgently need to accelerate our pace of innovation in engineering and technology and improve the quality of our innovation," he said, adding this will require scientific insight on new emerging engineering frontiers to guide future development.