Tu Youyou discovered a substance called artemisinin, which can be used to treat malaria. She tested the new drug on herself to accelerate its development, and won the 2015 Nobel Prize for her achievement.

Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology and the All-China Women's Federation, along with other departments, have issued a series of measures recently to stimulate the innovation vitality of female sci-tech talents, triggering a wide discussion among Chinese netizens on Wednesday. 

Among all the measures, one particular article implying women sci-tech talents will be given a priority for funding caught people's attention. 

Some netizens argued that it would be fair to all participants if people were judged based on their actual capability rather than gender. Others feel that since women have long been disadvantaged in the field, it's only appropriate to support them.

Under the mechanism, China will create more opportunities for more female sci-tech talents to get into national sci-tech programs. For instance, the country will explore more national-level key projects for female scientists and relax the age limitation for female applicants in youth scientists' programs.

The measures also support female scientific talents to start up businesses by themselves in order to cultivate more female tech entrepreneurs. China also vows to improve talent evaluation systems for female talents and support their research during pregnancy and nursing periods. 

Global Times