President Xi Jinping presented the 2016 State Preeminent¹ Science and Technology Award to Tu Youyou, co-winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize in physiology² or medicine, and physicist³ Zhao Zhongxian last Monday.

国家主席习近平上周一将2016年度国家最高科学技术奖颁予2015年诺贝尔生理学或医学奖得主之一的屠呦呦以及物理学家赵忠贤。

Tu is best known for discovering artemisinin, which is used to treat malaria⁴. She is the first woman to receive the national award.

屠呦呦最广为人知的成就是发现了可用于治疗疟疾的青蒿素。她是首位获得国家最高科学技术奖的女性。

Zhao Zhongxian, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has spent four decades researching superconductors.

赵忠贤是中国科学院院士，他致力于超导体研究四十年。

27 scientists have received the nation's top science and technology award since it was established in 2000. It comes with a prize of 5 million yuan.

国家最高科学技术奖2000年设立，奖金为500万元人民币，至今已有27位科学家获奖。

The award is one way the government encourages fundamental research, Premier⁵ Li Keqiang said at the ceremony.

李克强总理在仪式上表示，该奖项是政府鼓励基础研究的一种方式。

Li paraphrased⁶ a Chinese proverb, saying, "(Scientists) could stay silent for a decade, (but they should) try to amaze the world with a single brilliant feat⁷."

李克强总理引用了一句中国的谚语称：“（科学家们）可以十年不鸣，但是他们要争取一鸣惊人。”

Li also expressed gratitude⁸ to foreign scientists and scholars who have contributed to China's scientific progress.

此外，李克强总理还对那些为中国科技事进步而奉献的外籍科学家和学者表示了感谢。