Chinese President Jiang Zemin awarded the Fields medalists together with Palles, the president of the International Mathematics Union.

Madhu Sudam from the United Sates won the Nevanlinna Prize.

The 24th International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM), the first ever held in China, opened Tuesday in the Great Hall of the People.

More than 2,000 foreign mathematicians and over 1,000 Chinese mathematicians attended this academic gathering, which is held every four years.

Fields Medal Prize The Fields Medal Prize, regarded internationally as the most prestigious prize in the field of mathematics, is awarded to mathematicians under the age of 40.

France's Laurent Lafforgue and Russia's Vladimir Voevododsky became the latest winners of the prize, at the opening ceremony ofthe 2002 International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) here Tuesday.

The prize, named in honor of Professor John Charles Fields, a Canadian mathematician, was formally established at the 1932 ICM and first awarded at the 1936 ICM.

On the face of the medal are the portrait of the Greek mathematician, Archimedes, and Latin inscriptions.

International Congress of Mathematicians The ICM, supported and assisted by International Mathematics Union (IMU), has a history of over 100 years. The first ICM was held in 1897 in Zurich, Switzerland. Since the 1900 ICM in Paris, it has been held every four years except during the two world wars.Now it has become the most authoritative academic meeting in its field, attracting mathematicians from all over the world.

The plenary lectures and the invited lectures given during the congress are often regarded as representing the most important achievements and developments in all fields of mathematics. The prestigious Fields Medal Prize is usually awarded at the opening ceremony of the ICM.