China started to build infrastructure for its gravitational wave research project "Tianqin" in the southern coastal city of Zhuhai on 20th March, 2016.

Sun Yat-sen University, initiator of the program, held a foundation stone laying ceremony for a 30,000-square-meter research building, a 10,000-square-meter ultra-quiet cave laboratory and a 5,000-square-meter obseravation sation on its Zhuhai campus.

Meanwhile, the university is recruiting reserach staff for the international cooperation program dominated by Chinese scientists.

With an estimated cost of 15 billion yuan (2.3 billion U.S. dollars), Tianqin would be carried out in four stages over the next 15 to 20 years, ultimately launching three high-orbit satellites to detect the waves, according to Li Miao, dean of the university's institute of astronomy and space science.

The discovery of gravitational waves by the American Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) in February has encouraged scientists worldwide to accelerate their research. (Xinhua)