Zhao Qiguo

In this Chinese name, the family name is Zhao.

Zhao Qiguo (Chinese: 赵其国; 25 February 1930 – 3 January 2023) was a Chinese soil scientist, and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.^[1] He was president of the Soil Science Society of China from 1987 to 1995.^[2]

Zhao Qiguo
赵其国
Born	(1930-02-25)25 February 1930 Hankou, Hubei, China
Died	3 January 2023(2023-01-03) (aged 92) Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
Alma mater	Huazhong Agricultural University
Scientific career
Fields	Soil geography
Institutions	Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese	赵其国
Traditional Chinese	趙其國
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhào Qíguó

Biography

Zhao was born in Hankou (now Wuhan, Hubei), on 25 February 1930. In 1949, he was admitted to the Department of Agronomy, Wuhan University. Due to the 1952 reorganisation of Chinese higher education, he became a student of Huazhong Agricultural University.

After university in 1953, Zhao became the leader of Yunnan and Guizhou South China Rubber and Tropical Crop Suitable Forest Land Investigation Team. Between 1964 and 1968, he was deputy leader and then leader of China's expert group in Cuba. In 1973, he became the leader of Heilongjiang Wildland Resources Investigation Team, and served until 1978. In 1983, he was promoted to become director of the Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, a post he kept until 1995.^[3]

On 3 January 2023, Zhao died in Nanjing, Jiangsu, at the age of 92.^[3]

Honours and awards

• 1991 Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)
• 1991 State Natural Science Award (Second Class)
• 2004 State Science and Technology Progress Award (Second Class)