President Xi Jinping presented the award to the two scientists for their outstanding contribution to scientific and technological innovation at the annual National Science and Technology Award Conference held in Beijing. The event honors distinguished scientists, engineers, and other research achievements.

Liu's work has focused on domestic maritime radar technology, helping to establish full monitoring of the country's seas. Qian set up the theoretical system for China's modern defense engineering and contributed to creating an underground defense infrastructure.

Liu was born in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province in 1936. He attended the Harbin Institute of Technology in 1953 and went on to pursue his studies at Tsinghua University in 1956. He has taught at the Harbin Institute of Technology since 1958 and became a professor in 1985. In 1991, he was elected an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and in 1994, he was elected an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.