China Vitae

Biography

Tu Shancheng, male, Han nationality, is a native of Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province. He was born in 1923 and graduated from the Electro-Mechanics Department of Cornell University in 1953 with a doctorate degree. Tu joined the CPC in 1983.

Tu returned to China, after his studies overseas, to become the chief of the automation research institute at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In 1968, he was assigned to the 502 Research Office of the 5th Research Institute under the National Defense Work Committee and held several executive positions – among them office chief as well as the deputy president and president at the institute.

A researcher on plane-to-plane and ground-to-plane missiles, he became actively involved with satellite control system and manned spaceflight. From 1968 to 1970, Tu helped develop and manufacture the Shuguang manned airship and then helped establish an experimental satellite.

In 1987, he led a study on the feasibility of Chinese manned spaceflight and helped create a three-stage strategy for China to accomplish this. The winner of the National Scientific Progress Prize in 1985 and the Science and Technology Progress Prize from the He-liang He-li Fund in 1997, Tu worked on the 863 Hi-Tech Plan.

Tu is an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the International Spaceflight Academy of Sciences. He is a part-time professor at Beijing Aviation and Spaceflight University, Harbin Industrial University, and the Science and Technology University of China.