BEIJING - Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday underscored the importance of sci-tech modernization and innovation in pursuing Chinese modernization and high-quality development.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, presented China's top sci-tech award and made the remarks at 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).

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Xi presented medals and certificates for the country's top sci-tech award to Li Deren, an academician of CAS and CAE from Wuhan University, and Xue Qikun, an academician of CAS from Tsinghua University. He then shook hands with the two scientists and extended his congratulations.

Li has dedicated his career to advancing China's capabilities in surveying and remote sensing for Earth observation. He is celebrated for his expert knowledge of the core technologies of high-precision global positioning and mapping via satellite remote sensing.

Photogrammetry and remote sensing expert Li Deren and condensed matter physicist Xue Qikun won the national top sci-tech award for the year 2023

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.

Xue is a distinguished scientist of condensed matter physics, who has achieved multiple scientific breakthroughs.

His team made the first experimental observation of the quantum anomalous Hall effect. 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. 

Research on the computational prediction of topological electronic materials and 48 other achievements were honored with the State Natural Science Award

Xi and other Party and state leaders, together with the two winners of the top sci-tech award, presented certificates to other award recipients. Accolades were also bestowed upon a selection of distinguished projects.

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Research on the computational prediction of topological electronic materials and 48 other achievements were honored with the State Natural Science Award. Dozens of projects were presented with the State Technological Invention Award. More than 100 projects were issued with the State Scientific and Technological Progress Award.

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