2. Yuan Longping's research on indica hybrid rice won the only special invention award in China so far (as of August 2009); The Hunan Provincial Party Committee and the provincial government awarded Yuan Longping the title of "meritorious scientist"; The asteroid with the international number 8 1 17 discovered in China was named "Yuan Longping Star"; He has won eight international awards, including the UNESCO Science Award and the FAO Food Security Honorary Award. 2001February 19, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council held a grand national science and technology awards conference, and awarded Yuan Longping, a researcher of Hunan Hybrid Rice Research Center and academician of China Academy of Engineering, the highest national science and technology award in 2000. On April 29th, 2007, Yuan Longping, the world's "father of hybrid rice" and academician of China Academy of Engineering, officially became a foreign academician of American Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C., and attended the annual meeting of American Academy of Sciences attended by hundreds of top scientists from all over the world.