Nuclear sub designer, meteorologist awarded

By Zhang Hui Source:Global Times Published: 2020/1/10 21:08:40 Last Updated: 2020/1/11 11:20:35

National defense at the heart of the nation’s top science award


Huang Xuhua (center) and Zeng Qingcun (right) hold their certificates of China's top science prize at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Friday. Photo: cnsphoto


A top nuclear submarine designer and a veteran meteorologist were honored with China's top science award on Friday. Each received a prize of 8 million yuan ($1.1 million). 

Huang Xuhua, 94, chief designer of China's first-generation nuclear submarine, and Zeng Qingcun, 85, an atmospheric physicist, on Friday won the 2019 State Preeminent Science and Technology Award at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

President Xi Jinping presented the country's top science award to Huang and Zeng for their outstanding contributions to scientific and technological innovation.

Huang, honorary director of the 719 Research Institute of the China State Shipbuilding Corporation, has dedicated his life to the research and development of China's nuclear submarines. His work had been a secret for three decades. He and his team launched China's first nuclear submarine in 1970, with all performances exceeding those of the first US nuclear submarine in 1954, the Xinhua News Agency reported. 

The development of China's nuclear submarine technology from nothing to its present international level was very challenging. Without Huang's contribution, China's nuclear submarine technology would not have made the same achievements in such a short time, Song Zhongping, a military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times.

Benefiting from Huang's research, China's first-generation nuclear submarine adopted the internationally advanced teardrop-shaped hull. Huang also guided the submarine's later development, Song told the Global Times. 

China's top science award winner Zeng Qingcun, a famous meteorologist from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), delivers a speech during an annual ceremony to honor distinguished scientists, engineers and research achievements in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 10, 2020. The National Science and Technology Award Conference was held in Beijing on Friday. (Xinhua/Shen Hong)


Zeng, an academician from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, made great contributions to international, numerical weather prediction and meteorological satellite remote-sensing technologies. 

He won the International Meteorological Organization Prize in 2016 for his work in the field.

A total of 33 Chinese scientists, including Nobel Prize laureate Tu Youyou and agriculturalist Yuan Longping, have won the State Preeminent Science and Technology Award since 1999. 

Since China's reform and opening-up, the national science and technology awards have focused on the central task of the Party and the country, an official with the National Office for Science and Technology Awards told the Science and Technology Daily. 

Chinese netizens paid their respects to award winners over the past two decades, calling them the "backbone of the country" and "the real stars all Chinese young people should adore."

The National Science and Technology Award Conference is held in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 10, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Bin)


A shift in awardees - from mathematicians, medical and agricultural scientists in the early 2000s to experts in national defense, military and aerospace fields in recent years - reveals China's technological development from the basic sciences to applied sciences, experts said.  

National defense technology is an important field where China's technological development manifests, and the development and production of advanced national defense equipment could involve many industries and sciences, he said. 

The fact that more scientists in this field have been awarded the prize also shows the growing significance of national security, and that China needs advanced technology facilities to strengthen its national defense amid a turbulent world environment, Song said.

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