An overview of the 500-meter aperture spherical radio telescope. Still being built, it will be the world's largest radio telescope after it is completed in September 2016. Zeng Jun / China Daily

Leading position

Li, the scientist, said the telescope, once completed, will hold a leading position for two or three decades worldwide and will be an open scientific research platform. "We welcome scientists from around the world to come," he said.

Future research through the telescope will be conducted on pulsars, galaxies, dark matter and cosmology, according to the National Astronomical Observatories.

Nan Rendong, chief scientist of the FAST Project and a researcher with the observatories, said FAST will have an extraordinary impact on astronomy.

"It will certainly revolutionize other areas of the natural sciences," he said.

FAST will enable astronomers to jump-start many science goals, such as the survey of natural hydrogen in distant galaxies, the detection of faint pulsars or listening for possible signals from other civilizations, Nan added.

"Chinese scientists have made numerous contributions in mathematics, computer sciences and particle physics in past years under impoverished conditions. Now, with the most advanced facility supported by the government, a giant step forward should be made," Li said.

Zeng Jun in Guiyang and Xinhua contributed to this story.