Chinese win world's top Maths prize for first time
Mathematicians Hong Wang and Yu Deng have become the first Chinese academics to win the Fields Medal, the most prestigious award in mathematics. Their work, which solved century-old problems, has been celebrated as a historic achievement within China.
Why it matters
This recognition marks a milestone for the Chinese academic community and highlights the global nature of high-level mathematical research.
Share Save Add as preferred on Google Joel Guinto and Fan Wang Getty Images Mathematicians Yu Deng and Hong Wang are China's first Fields Medal recipients Two Chinese academics have won the world's top prize for mathematics for the first time, according to state media.
Chinese mathematicians Hong Wang and Yu Deng won alongside John Pardon from the US and Jacon Tsimerman from Canada. They each won 15,000 Canadian dollars ($10,500; £8,000).
Both won for solving problems that have baffled mathematicians for more than a century. And 35-year-old Wang, who teaches in the US and France, is only the third woman to receive the honour.
The Fields Medal, regarded as the Nobel prize equivalent for mathematics, was handed out on Thursday in the US as human computations are increasingly challenged by AI.
The achievement has made waves on Chinese social media.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in