Editor's note: This year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China.

On June 3, 1994, the Chinese Academy of Engineering was established in Beijing, with elected members in science and technology engineering. The first batch of 96 newly nominated academicians was appointed at the inaugural conference.

During the conference, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which was established in November 1949, elected 14 overseas scientists as China's first group of foreign academicians.

The 14 included Derek Barton and Joseph Needham of Britain, and Peter Raven and Herbert Simon of the United States. The others were all Chinese-American scientists, including Nobel Prize winners Samuel Chao Chung Ting, Chen-Ning Yang and Tsung-dao Lee.

Two years later, the China Science and Technology Hall was built to further promote scientific knowledge among government leaders, as seen in an item from China Daily. It has served as an important venue for domestic and international scientific seminars and conferences.1

Covering 56,130 square meters, the hall is equipped with real-time translation equipment, a modern audiovisual system and business and telecommunication facilities.

The CAS and CAE are top think tanks in China that advise government and industry on key scientific and technological issues.

The academicians are the most senior members of the two academies.

Elections take place every two years.

After the most recent election, in 2017, the science academy announced 61 new Chinese academicians, including three women.

The average age of the Chinese academicians is 54, with the youngest being Xu Tao, a 46-year-old biophysicist.

Sixteen foreign scientists received the country's highest academic honor academicians.

With the new additions, the academy now has 800 Chinese academicians and 92 foreign academicians.

In 2017, the engineering academy unveiled 67 new domestic academicians, with an average age of 56, and 18 foreign academicians including Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.