Chinese President Xi Jinping presented medals to recipients of the Medal of the Republic and the national honorary title for their outstanding contributions to the country's fight against the COVID-19 epidemic, at an awards ceremony Tuesday morning in Beijing.

The Medal of the Republic was conferred on renowned respiratory disease expert Zhong Nanshan.

The national honorary title, "the People's Hero," was conferred on Zhang Boli, a traditional Chinese medicine expert who presided over the research of the COVID-19 treatment scheme combining traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine, Zhang Dingyu, president of Wuhan's designated Jinyintan Hospital, and Chen Wei, a military medical scientist who recorded major achievements in COVID-19-related basic research and development of vaccine and protective medicine.