Taiwanese Business Magnate Launches Asia’s Nobel-Type Prizes

A business tycoon from Taiwan with interests mainly in China declared on 28 January 2013 that he was funding the Asia's Nobel Prizes for outstanding achievements in natural and social sciences. Samuel Yin, the head of Ruentex Group announced that he would establish Tang Prize Foundation which would have an initial donation of 103 million dollar.
 
Tang Prize Foundation, which uses the name of Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD), is valued by the Chinese for cultural as well as scientific achievements. It was decided that the prizes under the Tang Prize Foundation will be awarded every alternate year to the international leaders in sustainable development, biopharmaceutical science, the rule of law as well as the study of China.

Samuel Yin declared that these categories were kept in the new awards because the Nobels, which are 118 years old, did not include these fields. He also opined that these categories had high importance for the humanity.

About the Tang Prize Foundation

The prizes under the Tang Prize Foundation will commence from 2014. The winners of the prize would be entitled to receive 1.7 million US dollar. Nobel prizes award 1.2 million US dollar to the awardees.

The winners of the Tang Prize will be nominated as well as screened by the special committees which in turn would be established by the Academia Sinica, the highly prestigious research organisation of Taiwan.

About Samuel Yin

•Samuel Yin is aged 62 years. He is well known for the donations towards the fields of charity and education in China.
•In 2012, Samuel Yin had offered to donate 95 percent of the total assets after his death. His total assets are valued at 3.4 billion US dollar.
•In fact, through his donations towards education, 80000 students in China received tuition assistance.
•In 1980, he also co-financed the building of 250km railway in eastern China.