More than 133,000 people across China voted in the poll.

The result is as follows:

-- Chinese scientists began unraveling the mystery of aging cells;

-- Computer expert Wang Xuan and solid state and semi-conductor physicist Huang Kun are awarded the top national prize for science and technology development by President Jiang Zemin;

-- The "Shenzhou III" spaceship was successfully launched and returned to earth;

-- China developed the first cancer detection bio-chip;

-- Chinese scientists built the world's first continental drill for scientific purposes in super high pressure metamorphite rock;

-- China discovered its first world-class gas field, with reserves of 600 billion cubic meters;

-- China's first direct and alternating current integration system debuted;

-- China solved the technical problem of building a tunnel through frozen earth in the construction of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway;

-- China introduced its law on disseminating science and technology knowledge;

-- With "Dragon I," China saw the introduction of its own CPU chip.

(Xinhua News Agency January 27, 2003)