Five groups of female scientists and eleven individual women have been honored as national-level role models by the All-China Women's Federation for their contributions to a series of China's scientific breakthroughs at a ceremony held in Beijing on April 25, 2021. (PHOTO / XINHUA)
The March 8 Red Banner Pacesetter award is the highest honor presented by the All-China Women's Federation to recognize the country's outstanding women.
The award aims to promote female role models who are strong, confident, independent, courageous, dedicated to their work and highly innovative.
Since it was launched in 1960, it has received positive feedback from women in all walks of life and ethnic groups, and it has become a flagship event inspiring women to contribute to the development of society, the federation said.
It noted that women have created great material and spiritual wealth for the country and helped drive economic growth. The winners are diligent and persistent, selfless and dedicated.
Since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, numerous inspiring women have made remarkable achievements, becoming an important force in the promotion of socioeconomic development.
For example, Wang Kerong, who received the award in 2019, is a nurse at Beijing Ditan Hospital affiliated to the Capital Medical University. In the past 20 years, she has cared for patients with multiple infectious diseases and has also been active in the dissemination of AIDS-prevention programs.
Pan Yulian, 79, received the award in 2018. She began offering free tutoring to primary school children in Kashgar prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, in 1992, after noticing that many parents didn't have time to take care of their offspring during vacations.
Despite her poor income, she turned a room in her home into a classroom called the Grandma Pan Community Class. So far, she has provided free lessons for more than 2,000 children.
This year, the federation gave the award to more than 300 women, including engineers, voluntary workers, teachers and those devoted to poverty alleviation efforts.
One recipient, Chen Lan, is an engineer with the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp.
She has led her team on important scientific research during some of the country's major space missions, from the Chang'e lunar exploration program to the Mars project Tianwen 1.