Xi highlights training of engineers

Nation's top honor in field conferred for first time at Beijing awards ceremony

President Xi Jinping has emphasized the need for China to step up the independent training of engineering talent and keep elevating the social status of engineers, as part of broader efforts to develop new productive forces and ensure a high level of self-reliance in science and technology.

The instructions from Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, were delivered during the National Engineer Awards ceremony in Beijing on Friday.

It was the first time for China to confer such awards, the nation's highest honor in the field of engineering.