On March 15, the 17th China Industry-University-Research Cooperation Innovation Conference was held in Beijing, attended by representatives from the front lines of government, industry, academia and research across the country as well as responsible officials from relevant ministries and commissions. Professor Song Chuankui, Executive Deputy Director of the laboratory, was honoured with the China Industry-University-Research Cooperation Innovation Figure Award.

The China Industry-University-Research Cooperation Innovation Figure Award is a national-level social science and technology award established by the China Industry-University-Research Cooperation Promotion Association and approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the National Office for Science and Technology Awards. It is one of the highest honours for collaborative innovation in China's industry-university-research community. Following strict procedures including expert review, public announcement and final review, a total of 122 individuals nationwide received this honour this time.

Professor Song Chuankui has long been engaged in research on secondary metabolism and its regulation in tea plants, focusing on the synthesis of aroma compounds in tea plants and their stress-resistance functions through systematic basic research and technological innovation. He has led projects including the National Natural Science Foundation of China's Excellent Young Scientists Fund, major project topics, international cooperation projects, regional joint key projects and National Key Research and Development Programme topics, and has been selected as a renowned expert of the Ministry of Education. He has published more than 50 SCI papers in classic international plant science journals such as Science Advances and Plant Cell. In promoting the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, Professor Song Chuankui has developed new cold-resistant and insect-resistant formulations based on the mechanism of volatile regulation, which have been promoted and applied in tea regions such as Anhui, Zhejiang and Tibet. He has been granted more than 10 national invention patents and has been honoured with titles including Anhui's Most Beautiful Science and Technology Worker, the Youth May 4th Medal and a special government allowance.

This award reflects the laboratory's continuous deepening of industry-university-research collaborative innovation and its proactive service to major industrial needs. The laboratory will further strengthen breakthroughs in basic theory and key technologies, providing strong scientific and technological support and talent guarantees for the sustainable development of China's tea industry. (Text/Editor: Guan Zhenyu; First review: Zhang Xianlin; Second review: Song Chuankui)