BEIJING — China has made strong efforts to popularize science both online and offline over the past decade, an official said on June 6.

The proportion of scientifically literate Chinese citizens increased to 10.56 percent in 2020, nearly two times that in 2015, Zhang Yuzhuo, vice-chairman with the China Association for Science and Technology, said at a press conference.

Over the past decade, modern sci-tech museums with Chinese characteristics have developed rapidly, with offline visitors surpassing 850 million, Zhang said.

The number of offline sci-tech museums has increased from 118 in 2012 to 408 at present, he said, adding that a total of 1,112 popular-science sites have been built in rural middle schools.

A national online platform for science popularization, named China Digital Science and Technology Museum, has seen its users increase to more than 15 million.

While hailing China's significant progress in strengthening science popularization, Zhang also acknowledged urban-rural and regional gap in this regard.

"We will further channel more popular-science resources and services to underdeveloped areas to help boost rural revitalization," Zhang said.