Prof. Zhu at the awarding ceremony

Prof. Chunwu Zhu, Chair of the Committee on Carbon Neutrality and Global Change of the Soil Science Society of China, has been awarded the 2025 Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation “Science and Technology Innovation Award”. The award ceremony was held on February 2, 2026 in Beijing.

Prof. Zhu has long been dedicated to studying the response and adaptation of farmland and wetland ecosystems under global change, and its regional and global scale simulation prediction. A key achievement includes his design and development of the third-generation Free-Air CO₂ Enrichment (FACE) platform, which enables coupled elevation of CO₂ and temperature under open-field conditions. This facility has supported cutting-edge research by over 40 leading scientific teams worldwide.

Prof. Zhu has published more than 40 papers as first or corresponding author in top-tier journals such as Nature Food, Nature Geoscience, and Science Advances. His findings have been cited over 20 times by authoritative international bodies including the IPCC, FAO, and WHO, providing critical scientific support for global climate governance and food security policies.

The Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation was established in 1994 by four patriotic Hong Kong financiers — Ho Sin Hang, Leung Kau-Kui, Ho Tim, and Lee Quo-Wei — to honor outstanding Chinese scientists.

Over the past 31 years, the foundation has awarded 1,692 outstanding scientists, establishing itself as a successful example of a science and technology award established by social forces, and contributing to stimulating China’s scientific and technological development while fostering independent innovation talent.