Cheng Kaijia

Cheng Kaijia, an esteemed physicist and pioneer in nuclear science and technology, passed away in Beijing on November 17 at the age of 101.

Born in east China's Jiangsu Province in 1918, Cheng graduated with a bachelor's degree in physics from Zhejiang University in 1941. In 1946, he began his studies at the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom, receiving a PhD in 1948.

After returning to China in 1950, Cheng participated in more than 30 nuclear experiments, including for the first atomic and hydrogen bombs.

For over 20 years he lived in the Lop Nur nuclear test site in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region starting in 1963.

Cheng was elected academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1980. In 1999, he was awarded the "Two Bombs and One Satellite Meritorious Award" for his contribution to the development of the atomic and hydrogen bombs. Cheng won China's top science award in 2014.