Thirty outstanding Chinese students in the US were singled out for academic excellence in 2017 and 27 of them attended an awards presentation ceremony on Sunday at the Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco.

The annual awards program is sponsored by the China Scholarship Council, a non-profit agency affiliated with the country's education ministry, aimed at providing financial assistance to overseas Chinese students.

In the San Francisco consular district, covering Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Northern California and Nevada, 30 Chinese students were each awarded certificates and scholarships ranging from $6,000 to $10,000.

The awards were launched by the Government Award for Outstanding Self-financed Students Abroad in 2003 to reward the academic excellence of self-financed Chinese students studying abroad, as well as encourage them to return to China or contribute to China's development after graduation.

In the past 15 years, 5,915 students have received the awards. Last year, 500 students studying in 25 countries won the awards, and 30 of them were from the San Francisco consular area.

"A country's future and a nation's hope depend on the young generation," said Chinese Consul General Luo Linquan, addressing the awards ceremony.

"This award is not only recognition of your achievement but also the country's expectations of you," Luo told the students. "I hope you can build your knowledge and skills, and be a patriot and ambassador of China-US friendship."

Liu Tianyu, a post-doctoral researcher in physical chemistry at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, is one of the 10 outstanding excellence award winners in the world. He received doctorate degree from University of California-Santa Cruz last year.

Liu said he plans to return to China after completing his post-doctoral research in the US.

"China promises a bright future to researchers now, especially in the area of energy storage. The gap between China and the US is smaller and smaller and China has been investing heavily in scientific research," he said.

"On the contrary, the Trump administration has been cutting funds on such projects. So I believe returning to China would be a better option for us researchers," said Liu.