This year, the top expert panels saw the most participation ever of Nobel Prize winners, with four on the team They were Arieh Warshel, the 2013 Nobel Prize winner in chemistry; Edvard I. Moser, the 2014 Nobel Prize winner in physiology or medicine; Konstantin Novoselov, the 2010 Nobel Prize winner in physiology or medicine; and Michael Young, the 2017 Nobel Prize winner in physiology or medicine. These four were also joined by Les Valiant, the 2010 Turing Prize winner.

The survey was conducted by the International Talents magazine. The organizer and Dataway provided data analysis of the survey. China Daily constructed the official website for the survey and reported on the entire process.

The survey has drawn strong support across the country from management departments for foreign experts.