ObjectiveIn order to provide a data base for fund project applicants and funding priorities, we would summarize the basic situation and key points of basic research in liver transplantation by analyzing the projects funded by the Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) in the field of liver transplantation.MethodsThrough the big data knowledge management and service platform of NSFC, internet-based science information system, and shared service network of NSFC, we searched the funding project information in the liver transplantation relevant field from 2010 to 2019, then analyzed the effectiveness of the Young Scientists Fund of NSFC in promoting young researchers and the research focus and development direction of funding projects.ResultsIn the latest 10 years, NSFC persistently and stably funded the basic research in the field of liver transplantation, with the total number of funding projects was 387, and the funding budget was 198.215 million yuan. The main types of funding projects were the General Program and the Youth Science Fund. There were 210 General Program project (54.3%) with an amount of 113.14 million yuan (57.1%), 127 Young Scientists Fund (32.8%) with an amount of 27.9 million yuan (14.1%), and 22 Fund for Less Developed Regions (5.7%) with an amount of 9.03 million yuan (4.6%). Sun Yat-sen University and Zhejiang University were far ahead of other supporting institutions in both the total number of projects undertaken and the amount of funds granted. The youth/surface ratio reached as high as 72.2% (13/18). The conversion rate of Young Scientists Fund to higher-level projects reached about 50%, which was significantly higher than the overall level of 24.7% (21/85) in the field of liver transplantation. The funding projects were mainly distributed in application code H0318 (liver regeneration, liver protection, liver failure, and artificial liver, 58, 15.0%), H0321 (organ transplantation of digestive system, 169, 43.7%), and H1006 (organ transplantation and transplantation immunity, 50, 12.9%). The main research fields were transplantation immunity and liver injury and liver protection. At the same time, projects such as graft function and complications of liver transplantation were also funded. There were few studies on the immune status of long-term survival in patients after liver transplantation and the mechanism on prevention of immunosuppressant-related diseases.ConclusionsThe NSFC has a great leading effect on the discipline development and talent cultivation of liver transplantation. However, there are still some problems in the discipline layout, such as the lack of attention to the mechanism of long-term graft function and chronic immune rejection.