Three gravitational wave projects unveiled in China, ranging from Tibet to outer space

Space officials said such research would give China - which has an ambitious, military-run, multi-billion-dollar space programme that Beijing sees as symbolising the country’s progress - an opportunity to become a “world leader” in the field.

WATCH: Find out what Einstein was talking about with this gravitational waves explainer

Gravitational waves are direct evidence of ripples in the fabric of space-time, and their first-ever observation was announced by US scientists last week.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) rolled out a proposal for a space-based gravitational wave detection project, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

The proposed Taiji programme, named after the “supreme ultimate” of Chinese philosophy symbolised by the yin-yang sign, would send satellites of its own into orbit or share equipment with the European Space Agency’s eLISA initiative.

The research will focus on low- and medium -frequency gravitational wave signals, Wu Yueliang, a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was quoted as saying. These are different from the kind observed last week in the US.