Two distinguished Chinese scholars --- Ma Fukang, Liu Danian --- were awarded certificates as foreign academicians to the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) Tuesday.

Ma Fukang, vice president of China's Institute of Nonferrous Metal, and Liu Danian, former director of the Modern History Institute under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, received the academic positions during the RAS annual conference in June 1999. Liu died of illness in late 1999.

There are at present eleven Chinese academicians for RAS.

Two RAS members delivered the certificates and Russia's ambassador to China Igor Alexeyevich Rogachev attended the ceremony.