Pan Jianwei works at the quantum laboratory. [Photo/ahhuabao.cn]

Pan Jianwei, a world-leading Chinese quantum scientist, was awarded a reform pioneer medal with 99 other Chinese dignitaries on Dec 18. 

The award was issued at a grand gathering in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing to mark the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up. 

Pan was honored last December as the "father of quantum" and one of the world's top 10 scientific figures by Nature, an international science journal. 

Pan is a professor at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in Hefei, East China's Anhui province, and an academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. 

One of his most eye-catching scientific achievements was the invention of the world's first optical quantum computer, the fastest so far, which debuted as a joint effort between Pan, his colleagues and a research team from Zhejiang University on May 3, 2017. 

Pan appreciates the support he has received from the Hefei National High-tech Industry Development Zone since he established a company there in 2009. His team has introduced a group of projects to the zone and the National Laboratory of Quantum Information and a branch campus of USTC is under construction.

Pan Jianwei discusses work with team members. [Photo/ahhuabao.cn]