Beijing stole the show at the National Science and Technology Award Conference on Jan 8, with its projects bringing home an impressive 78 national prizes , more than a third of the total awards.

Explosives expert Wang Zeshan, aged 82, and Beijing virologist Hou Yunde, aged 88, were presented with the 2017 State Preeminent Science and Technology Award, China's highest science honor, for their outstanding contributions to the country's scientific and technological cause. Both are academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

The nation's top science award has been given to 29 outstanding scientists since it was established in 2000, 20 of them from Beijing.

Bioengineer Li Jiayang from the Chinese Academy of Sciences won the annual First Prize of the State Natural Science Award for 2017 for his project of molecular mechanism which allowed scientists to create an ideal high-yield rice crop that is nutritious and tasty.

Beijing's other 14 projects won the Second Prize of the same award, with notable contributions in fields of new materials, artificial intelligence, environmental science, bioscience and information technology.

Zhongguancun Science Park, the major platform of Beijing's innovation development, is home to more than 50 awarded projects, accounting for two thirds of Beijing's awards and one fourth of the nation's.

Zhongguancun is a demonstration zone for China's high-tech firms and entrepreneurship bases and has made a breakthrough in economic growth. It will continue to build itself into a world-class hub for technological innovation in the future.

Winners are presented with the State Natural Science Awards for 2017 in Beijing on Jan 8. [Photo by Zhou Weihai for chinadaily.com.cn]