China will soon start choosing the winners of the 5-million-yuan (600,000 US dollars) State Supreme Science and Technology Award, the highest science award in China, and announce the results by the end of this year.

Lin Quan, spokesman of the Ministry of Science and Technology, announced in Beijing on January 4 at a press conference that his ministry has adopted detailed regulations for launching state science and technology awards.

He said the selection of the State Natural Science Award, the State Technological Innovation Award, the State Science and Technology Advancement Award, and the International Scientific and Technological Cooperation Award will also start simultaneously.

The newly adopted regulation stipulates that Chinese citizens, either at home or abroad or working for foreign-funded enterprises, can become candidates for the awards provided they have made outstanding discoveries capable of securing intellectual property rights.

To further Sino-foreign high-level scientific and technological cooperation, the government has raised the number of international scientific and technological cooperation award winners from three or four each year to no more than 10 a year.

Lin Quan said that reform of the science award system would focus on innovation, economic profits, social impact, and the upgrading of industries.

The first-prize winners of the natural science, innovation, and science and technology advancement awards can all receive as much as 90,000 yuan (10,800 dollars).

He said these science awards at the ministry-level have been reduced from the previous 68 to three this year.