China has announced a list of the country’s 2009 State Top Scientific and Technological Awards on Jan. 11, 2010 in Beijing, with 29 scientific achievements from the Chinese Academy of Sciences included.

With an aim to speed up scientific progress and improve the country's overall strength, the State Council set up five awards in 2000: the State Top Scientific and Technological Award, the State Natural Science Award, the State Technological Invention Award (STIA), the State Scientific and Technological Progress Award (SSTPA) and the China International Science and Technology Cooperation Award.

Chinese President Hu Jintao (R, front), shakes hands with a foreign expert before China's State Top Scientific and Technological Award ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, on Jan. 11, 2010. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

This year 374 items are rewarded with State Natural Science Award STIA or SSTPA. 13 CAS projects won State Natural Science Award (total 26); 2 were honoured with the State Technological Invention Award (total 55); 14 projects received State Special Award for Scientific and Technological Progress (total 282).

The editing and research for the Flora of China by three CAS institutes (Institute of Botany, South China Botanical Garden and Kunming Institute of Botany) won the first prize in the State Natural Science Award.

Three scientists recommended by CAS -- Prof. Yuen-Ron Shen from the United States, Prof. Arima Akito from Japan, and Prof. Michel Che from France were honored with the China International Science and Technology Cooperation Award.

Prof. Yuen-Ron Shen, 74, has engaged in Sino-American science and technology cooperation in a variety of fields since 1972. The cooperation had dramatically improved the academic status and influence of China in optics and condensed matter physics, said a statement from the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Nuclear physicist Arima Akito, 79, had taken an active part in promoting scientific exchange and cooperation between Japan and China in his position as president of the University of Tokyo and Japanese Minister of Science and Technology over the past three decades, said the statement.

Under the cooperation between the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the France National Center for Scientific Research, chemist Michel Che, 68, had contributed to chemical catalyst research in China, said the statement.

The awards were conferred at a ceremony held for China's annual national science and technology awards in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.