Publisher Springer Nature announces this year's award winners

As one of the world's key English-language academic publishers, Springer Nature has promoted Chinese academic achievements globally for years.

In late November, it handed out awards to 10 publications by Chinese researchers or teams that include Chinese scholars, through its China New Development Awards.

The winning publications show the increased focus of international publishing on subjects like the environment and Artificial Intelligence, and the contributions of both toward facilitating the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, as Leana Li Yan, Springer Nature's regional director of books, puts it.

Among the 10, three are in the field of environmental sciences and focus respectively on carbon neutrality, indoor air quality and the circular economy, while an additional winner from the economics field discusses the disciplinary framework of climate change economics.

"Scientific research provides the impetus for us to address global challenges and finally meet the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals," says Wu Shulin, chairman of the Publishers Association of China.

"As a developing country, China also faces great challenges, as the target date is 2030, and it would like to share its new findings and approaches in sustainable development. The award contributes to sharing, connecting and raising awareness to promote global efforts," Wu adds.

Stefan von Holtzbrinck, chairman of the Springer Nature Group, says the award seeks to raise the visibility of Chinese research, and its connection to the world.

Tsinghua University professor Zhang Yinping and his co-authors won an award for their Handbook of Indoor Air Quality. "This book is attributable to 136 experts and scholars in this field from 19 countries including China, the United States, Britain, and France, which demonstrates that international research collaboration plays a significant role in addressing the challenges of sustainable development confronted by society," Zhang says, adding that the handbook has been downloaded by users from 140 countries and has over 100 citations.

China New Development awards have been given out to 50 English-language Chinese academic titles since the award was founded in 2019. Titles are assessed by a panel made up of Springer Nature's in-house editors and executives leading its SDG program, on the basis of both the scientific merit and the social impact of their research.

This year's winners were all published in 2022.

"Over the past five years, 50 award-winning books have demonstrated how Chinese scholars have contributed to research relevant to SDGs," says Niels Peter Thomas, president of Springer Nature Greater China and Managing Director of Books.

"Putting them together, then promoting them to researchers around the world, testifies to the meaningful way Springer Nature adds value to Chinese research communities," he continues. "And it can also help to connect Chinese research to the rest of the world."

The 10 winning titles of the 2023 China New Development Awards:

(in alphabetical order)

AI Literacy in K-16 Classrooms

By Davy Tsz Kit Ng and others

Artificial Intelligence

By Fang Lu and others

China and the West: A Pragmatic Confucian's View

By Yao Yang

China's City Cluster Development in the Race to Carbon Neutrality

By Ali Cheshmehzangi and others

Climate Change Economics: Perspectives from China

By Pan Jiahua

Encyclopedia of Ionic Liquids

By Zhang Suojiang

From Zero Waste to Material Closed Loop: The Way Towards a Circular Economy

By Yang Jianming

Handbook of Indoor Air Quality

By Zhang Yinping and others

Radiology of Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases — Volume 2

By Li Hongjun and others

The Evolution of China's Anti-Poverty Strategies

By William N. Brown