Photogrammetry and remote sensing expert Li Deren and condensed matter physicist Xue Qikun were presented with China's top sci-tech award for the year 2023 on Monday.

Li Deren (1st R), an academician of both the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) from Wuhan University, and his wife (2nd R), pose for a group photo with Xue Qikun (1st L), an academician of the CAS from Tsinghua University, and his wife at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, June 24, 2024. A meeting conflating the national sci-tech conference, the national science and technology award conference, and the general assemblies of the members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) was held here on Monday. Li Deren and Xue Qikun won the national top sci-tech award for the year 2023. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei)

They were awarded at a meeting combining the national sci-tech conference, the national science and technology award conference, and the general assemblies of the members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), which was held in Beijing to honor the distinguished scientists and research achievements.

Li, born in 1939, is an academician at both the CAS and the CAE. He has dedicated his career to advancing China's capabilities in surveying and remote sensing for Earth observation.

Li, also a professor at Wuhan University, is celebrated for his expertise in core technologies of high-precision global positioning and mapping via satellite remote sensing.

He solved the high-precision processing problems of remote sensing satellite images, and has led his team to develop a fully automatic high-precision airborne and ground measurement system, making outstanding contributions to the building of China's high-precision and high-resolution Earth observation system.

Li noted that the award represents the country's recognition of both him and his peers working in the field of remote sensing.

"My fellow colleagues engaged in this field are all very happy. For the younger generation of scientists, I hope they will continue to advance China's capabilities in sky, land and sea remote sensing, Earth observation, and deep space exploration, thereby making greater contributions to the world," Li said.

"I will learn throughout my life and contribute to my country and my people," the veteran scientist added.

Born in 1963, Xue, a CAS academician and a professor at Tsinghua University, is a distinguished scientist of condensed matter physics, who has achieved multiple scientific breakthroughs.

His team conducted the first experimental observation of the quantum anomalous Hall effect in 2012 and later published their findings in the journal Science, which was called by Nobel laureate Yang Chen-ning "the first physics paper of Nobel Prize level published by a Chinese lab."

They also discovered interface-enhanced high-temperature superconductivity in the heterostructure system, which opened up a new direction of research in the field of high-temperature superconductivity.

"We are in the golden age of scientific research. As the country has created such good conditions for us to carry out our work, we should cherish it and strive to achieve more breakthroughs," Xue said.

At the Monday meeting, research on the computational prediction of topological electronic materials and 48 other achievements were honored with the State Natural Science Award.

Dozens of projects received the State Technological Invention Award. More than 100 projects, including the Fuxing high-speed train project, received the State Scientific and Technological Progress Award.

A total of 10 foreign experts won the International Science and Technology Cooperation Award. 

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