Bill Gates, the tech billionaire who co-founded Microsoft, has been given one of China’s highest academic honours – an accolade which is mostly reserved for top scientists and engineers.

　　联合创立微软的技术亿万富翁比尔·盖茨已获中国的最高学术荣誉之一，这一荣誉主要地为顶尖科学家们和工程师们而保留。

　　Gates was the only non-academic foreigner hand-picked by the Chinese Academy of Engineering for lifetime membership of the 815-member body from a pool of 533 candidates, the organisation announced on Monday.

　　该组织于周一宣布，经中国工程院精选，盖茨从533名候选人中脱颖而出，成为这一有着815名成员的机构的终生会员，系唯一一位非学术外籍人士。

　　New academicians are selected every two years from academic institutions, research institutes, enterprises and hospitals, both inside and outside China.

　　新的院士每两年会从中外国家的学术机构、研究机构、企业、和医院中产生。

　　The CAE – which falls under the State Council, China’s top governing body – also has a role advising Beijing on the country’s economic and social development, and its new members need to have “strict political clearance”.

　　中国工程院直属中国最高管理机构国务院，它还扮演着就国家的经济和社会发展向北京谏言献策的角色，它的新成员需要有“严格的政治认证”。

　　Foreigners are eligible for membership if they have contributed to the development of or played an important role in promoting China’s engineering, science, and technology, the CAE said on its website.

　　中国工程院在其网站上表示，外国人有会员资格，只要他们对中国的工程、科学、和技术的发展做出了贡献，或者扮演了一个重要角色。

　　The academy said Gates was elected to the academy for his role as founder and chairman of Washington-based nuclear power company TerraPower, which recently announced a partnership with the China National Nuclear Corporation to develop an advanced nuclear reactor.

　　该院指出，盖茨当选的原因是，他创立了华盛顿核能公司泰拉能源，并且担任董事长，该公司近日宣布了与中国核工业集团公司的合作关系，致力于开发先进的核反应堆。

　　The joint project is expected to begin next year, aiming to design and build nuclear power plants that generate 1,150 megawatts over the next 20 years.

　　预计联合工程明年开始，目标是在未来20年设计和修建产生1150百万瓦特的发电站。

　　The US business magnate has met Chinese President Xi Jinping on various occasions, and discussed further nuclear energy cooperation with Premier Li Keqiang earlier this month.

　　这位美国商业巨头此前在多个场合会晤过中国主席，并且于本月初与李克强总理进一步讨论了核能合作。

　　China has invested heavily in scientific development in recent years, as it seeks to overtake the United States and Europe as a global scientific powerhouse.

　　近些年来，中国在科学发展上投入了巨资，力图赶超欧美，成为全球科学重地。

　　The academy’s selection of foreign members is part of this effort to strengthen China’s presence and influence in engineering, science, and technology, the organisation said on its website.

　　中国工程院在其网站上表示，选择外籍成员是增强中国在工程、科学、和技术存在和影响之努力的一部分。

　　The academy also pledged to continue studying and implementing the spirit of the 19th Party Congress.

　　该院还承诺，继续学习和贯彻党的十九大的“精神”。

　　Apart from Gates, the other 17 newly inducted foreign scholars included mechanical engineering professor Shixin Jack Hu from the University of Michigan; Stephen P Boyd, an electrical engineering professor from Stanford in Connecticut; and Zhengzhou University’s Nicholas Robert Lemoine, dean of the academy of medical sciences. Forty nine new Chinese members were also selected.

　　除了盖茨，其他17名新入选的外籍学者包括，密歇根大学机械工程教授胡仕新、康涅狄格斯坦福电气工程教授史提芬·P. 博伊得、郑州大学医学院院长尼古拉斯·罗伯特·莱蒙。49名新的中国成员也被选入。

　　There were already 76 foreigners in the academy, including Nobel laureates such as Robert H Grubbs, from the California Institute of Technology, and Paul Nurse, from the Francis Crick Institute.

　　该院早有76名外国人，包括诺贝尔奖得主，例如，来自加州理工学院的罗伯特·H.格拉布斯和弗朗西斯·克里克研究所的保罗·纳斯。