China's science award looks to emulate Nobel Prize

The awarding ceremony of the second edition of the Future Science Prize, hailed as the "Nobel Prize of China", was held in Beijing on Saturday.

The Life Science Prize was awarded to Shi Yigong for his research on the structure of spliceosome, a substance which is crucial in gene expression.

The Physical Science Prize was then awarded to Pan Jianwei. Pan was the lead scientist of world's first quantum satellite launched by China last year, which marked a step closer to the country's goal of building an unhackable global communications network.

The Mathematics and Computer Science Prize was presented to Xu Chenyang for his contributions to birational algebraic geometry.

Each of the laureates won $1 million.

The Future Science Prize was initiated in 2016 by a group of entrepreneurs and scientists, with a view to honor outstanding scientists who research on basic science and its application.

"The founding of the awards is aimed at encouraging more young scientists to work out of their curiosity and be dedicated to fields which require long-term efforts," said Li Kai, a computer science professor from Princeton University and a member of the Future Science Prize Committee.

Li added the research of the winners, which can be from any country, must be original, have global influence and long-term significance, and be completed in Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Macao or Taiwan.