BEIJING, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Two Chinese scientists, materials expert Shi Changxu and hematologist Wang Zhenyi, won China's top science award Friday for their outstanding contributions to scientific and technological innovation.

The pair, both from the Chinese Academy of Engineering, each received 5 million yuan (757,600 U.S. dollars) and were presented with certificates by President Hu Jintao at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

China has given the annual State Top Scientific and Technological Award to elite scientists and researchers for 11 consecutive years since 2000.

To sharpen its international competitiveness, China needed a large number of outstanding scientists and to raise its science and technology level, said Premier Wen Jiabao at the ceremony.

In the 12th five-year plan period (2011-2015), the country's top priority would be to transform its development pattern, which needed support from science sector, Wen said.

The premier urged closer cooperation between scientists and companies so that more scientific achievements could be applied in economic development and daily life.

"We encourage more companies to engage in research and development and more scientists, research institutes and colleges to work with the private sector," he said.

Wen pledged to better allocate resources in the science sector and to protect the intellectual property rights of scientists.

China would also support innovation and create a better environment for research and for young scientists to develop their careers, he said.

Shi Changxu, 91, graduated from National Northwest China Institute of Technology in 1945 and acquired a doctorate at a university in the United States before returning to China in 1955.

He was honored for his research on superalloy and new alloy steel, which has widely been used to produce turbine blades for Chinese fighter aircraft.

During his scientific career, his work resulted in the creation of a variety of new alloy steels, according to a communique issued by the State Council for the award.

Shi is an academician with both the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Chinese Academy of Sciences, China's top two scientific research institutes.

"Scientists should devote our talents to the development of our country, society and the welfare of our people," Shi said at the ceremony. "We should work harder to build China into a country with great creativity and a well-off society."

Wang Zhenyi, 87, graduated from the former Aurora University in Shanghai in 1948 with a doctoral degree. His research has greatly improved the survival chances of people with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APML).

The award ceremony was chaired by Vice Premier Li Keqiang and was also attended by Vice President Xi Jinping and Li Changchun, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

An original anti-counterfeit device used in banknote printing won the first prize of State Technological Invention Award.

Three scientists from Germany, one from the United States and one from France won the International Cooperation Award in Science and Technology.

Thirty projects received second prizes in State Natural Sciences Award, but none claimed the first prize.
                                                                                                           Source:Xinhua