A video clip of China’s “father of hybrid rice,” Yuan Longping, speaking English has become a sensation on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter.

　　一段中国“杂交水稻之父”袁隆平讲英语的视频在中国版推特微博上引起了轰动。

　　The 87-year-old spoke at the 9th Shandong high-level talents forum in Qingdao. Yuan presented hybrid rice to the world in a 20-minute speech. “I speak broken English,” the octogenarian started, but during the rest of his speech, Yuan neither paused nor made any mistakes.

　　87岁的他在于青岛举行的第九届山东高层次人才论坛上发表了演讲。在20分钟的演讲中，袁隆平向世界展示了杂交水稻。“我英语说的不好，”这位耋耄老人开讲道，但是在接下来的演讲中，他既没停顿，也没犯任何错误。

　　The audience applauded Yuan’s outstanding scientific contribution and the wonderful speech he presented. The video was searched 200,000 times and played over 100 million times by noon on July 12.

　　观众为袁隆平杰出的科学贡献和精彩的演讲鼓掌。截止7月12日中午，该视频被搜索了20万次，并被播放1亿余次。

　　“Yuan has made huge contributions to the country’s agricultural development. He has fed generations of people,” one net user wrote. “It’s a surprise that Yuan can speak English at his age,” another commented.

　　一名网友写道：“袁隆平为我国的农业发展做出了巨大贡献。他解决了几代人的粮食问题。”另有网友评论道：“袁隆平在这个岁数还能说英语简直太意外了。”

　　Yuan in 2016 launched a research and development center focusing on "sea rice". When fully operational, the variety can produce 50 billion kilograms of grain, able to feed 200 million people.

　　2016年，袁隆平成立了一家科研中心，专注于“海水稻”。在全面运营时，该水稻能够产出500亿千克粮食，能够养活2亿人。