Physical chemist Zhang Cunhao and nuclear weapons expert Cheng Kaijia have won China's top science award for their outstanding contribution to scientific and technological innovation in the country.

Both winners are from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. At the annual science awards ceremony on Friday, the two researchers were presented with certificates by President Xi Jinping. They also each took home award equal to about 800-thousand US dollars. Awards were also handed out to a number of other scientists and research programs from across China.

In an address to the ceremony, Premier Li Keqiang said, "China has entered a new stage in which the country must rely more on science and technology innovation to guide and support its economic development and social progress." He also called on the government to free innovative scientific activities from bureaucratic intervention and "let the market speak" in terms of research programming, resource allocation and use of funds.