Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China's railway industry has achieved historic accomplishments and undergone historic transformations, with technological innovation playing a fundamental supporting role. CR has fully utilized the advantages of the new type of nationwide system and the leading role of railway industry technological innovation enterprises. It has taken the lead in forming the Railway Technology Innovation Alliance, widely collaborating with enterprises, universities and research institutions to mobilize the country's scientific research strengths. This has promoted the deep integration of industry, academia, research and application, accelerating the cultivation and development of new quality productive forces in the railway sector, and unwaveringly advancing China's path of independent technological innovation in railways. China's railway technological self-reliance and strength have continuously improved, and its overall railway technological level has reached the forefront of the world. Technologies for high-speed, plateau, cold-climate and heavy-load railways have achieved world-leading standards. First, China has mastered complete railway construction technologies under complex geological conditions and climate environments. Several world-class large-span bridges, such as the bridge of Shanghai-Nantong Railway across the Yangtze River and the Pingtan Strait Bridge, as well as long tunnels like the Badaling Tunnel on the Beijing-Zhangjiakou High-Speed Railway and the Shiziyang Tunnel on the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong High Speed Railway, have been completed. With these projects, China has built the world's largest high-speed railway network and an advanced railway network. Second, China has developed a series of key technological equipment with world-leading levels. It has successfully developed the Fuxing series of high-speed trains with completely independent intellectual property rights, the CTCS-3 level train control system and intelligent traction power supply technologies. The technology for intelligent high-speed railway has been fully localized, and the "Fuxing EMU train" project won the 2023 National Science and Technology Progress Award, Special Class. China's high-speed railway technology has set an international benchmark. Third, China has mastered railway operation safety assurance technologies under complex network conditions. China has successfully developed a high-speed comprehensive detection train with world-leading levels, forming a comprehensive monitoring and detection system for all railway specialties. It has also established disaster prevention and reduction systems such as natural disaster and foreign object intrusion monitoring and earthquake early warning systems, building a comprehensive transport safety assurance system. China has mastered the technology for railway train schedule planning under the world's most complex network conditions. In the Shanghai-Hangzhou High Speed Railway, trains can operate with a 3-minute tracking interval, reaching world-leading levels. Fourth, China's railway technical standards are rapidly advancing globally. China has hosted more than 300 international standard-setting and revision projects under the UIC (International Union of Railways), ISO (International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission). All 13 system-level international standards in the high-speed railway field under the UIC have been developed under the leadership of China's railways, further contributing to the development of world railways.

　　The 17th Zhan Tianyou Railway Science and Technology Award Ceremony and the Zhan Tianyou Science and Technology Development Forum were organized by the Zhantianyou Development Foundation of Science and Technology. The Zhan Tianyou Railway Science and Technology Award is a technological award approved and registered by the National Office for Science & Technology Awards. It is an authoritative award in the railway industry and rail transport sector, presented every two years. This year, the award recognized 3 Grand Prizes, 41 Achievement Awards, 90 Youth Awards and 10 Innovation Team Awards. These technological achievements have successfully solved a series of scientific and technological challenges in railway engineering construction, equipment manufacturing, operation and maintenance. Notable outcomes include the systematic development of the Fuxing EMU train, the CTCS-3 level autonomous train control system, integrated "air, space and ground" survey technology, the ultra-large shield machine main bearing, the 12306 railway online ticketing system and basic research on aerodynamic effects and vibration and noise reduction in rail transit, among other significant scientific and technological achievements. These accomplishments have provided strong support for consolidating and advancing China's world-leading position in railway technology.

　　The theme of this year's Zhan Tianyou Science and Technology Development Forum was "Technological Self-Reliance and Strength Supporting the Construction of a Railway Power." Relevant experts focused on cutting-edge advancements in global railway technology, the main battlefield of railway construction and operations and the major demands for high-quality development in the railway and rail transit sectors. They delivered academic reports and engaged in in-depth discussions on topics related to technological innovation in areas such as China's railway planning and design, equipment manufacturing and transportation organization.