The 2022 Liang Xi Science and Technology Award Conference is held in Huzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, on Nov 25. [Photo/hz66.com]

Huzhou in East China's Zhejiang province was designated the permanent host venue for the Liang Xi Science and Technology Award Conference at this year's event, which it hosted on Nov 25.

Established by the Chinese Society of Forestry in 2004, the award named after Liang Xi, a famous forestry scientist and the first forestry minister of the People's Republic of China, is the highest honor in the nation's forestry science and technology field.

Born in Huzhou's Nanxun district in 1883, Liang served as dean of the School of Forestry at Central University, now Nanjing Forestry University, after studying in Japan and Germany.

In 1944, the Association of Scientific Workers, the predecessor of today's Jiusan Society, a Chinese political party, was established. Liang was one of its chief founders.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, he was appointed head of the Ministry of Forestry and Land Reclamation, now known as the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.

As Liang's hometown, Huzhou has emerged as a trailblazer in green and low-carbon development in China.

Huzhou, with a forestry rate of 48.23 percent, has been recognized as a national demonstration city for ecological civilization construction. All administrative areas under its jurisdictions have been honored as national models for well-preserved ecosystems.

The city has the highest level of forestry modernization in Zhejiang. It is currently home to 4,000-plus forestry companies, including 37 provincially leading ones and four nationally leading ones, with a combined output value of more than 70 billion yuan ($10 billion).