The awarding ceremony for the Wu Zhengyi Botanical Award was held on October 12 during the 2019 National Congress of Plant Biology to honor distinguished botanists for their commitment to the development of the plant sciences and the conservation of biodiversity. 

Prof. ZHOU Jun, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and a botanist at Kunming Institute of Botany (KIB), is the winner of the Outstanding Contribution Award. 

Prof. SU Tao of Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG) is one of the two winners of the Youth Innovation Award. The other winner is Prof. GUO Yalong from the Institute of Botany of CAS. 

The Youth Innovation Award aims to honor young botanists under the age of 45 for their innovative achievements in the fields of plant sciences. 

SU Tao’s research focuses on using Cenozoic fossil floras in China to understand biodiversity, biogeography, palaeoclimate and palaeoecology. His research involves palaeoclimate reconstructions, biogeography of plants, and plant-insect interactions in deep time. He has published many high-level peer-reviewed papers in such journals as Science Advances, National Science Review, etc. on aspects of fossil plants, palaeoecology, palaeoclimate and climate modelling. 

Wu Zhengyi(1916-2013), once an academician at the CAS and awardee of the National Highest Science and Technology Award of China in 2007, is well-known by botanists around the world. He was dedicated to plant science research for more than 70 years, participating in the compilation of "Flora of China" and its revision of the English version, making an outstanding contribution for the development of the botany of China. 

The first warding ceremony of Wu Zhengyi Award was held at the XIX International Botanical Congress (IBC) in July 2017. Academician Hong Deyuan was winner of the Outstanding Contribution Award. Two other outstanding botanists, Gao Lianming and Kong Hongzhi, were offered the Young Innovation Award.