The Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China and the All-China Youth Federation recently announced the decision to confer the 2026 China Youth May Fourth Medal and the New Era Youth Pioneer Award. Zhang Jianing, an alumnus of the university and general manager and chief technology officer of Lingyu Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd., was named a 2026 New Era Youth Pioneer, setting an example for young people.
Zhang Jianing is an alumnus from the 2008 cohort of the Communication Engineering program. A young technology entrepreneur born in the 1990s, he has long been engaged in research, development and management in virtual reality, artificial intelligence and embodied intelligence. He serves as a member of the Audio Engineering Branch of the Acoustical Society of China and the Animation Graphics Engineering Professional Committee of the China Graphics Society. He is an outstanding representative of young innovators and entrepreneurs committed to technological self-reliance. A number of his achievements have been included in the National Science and Technology Achievement Database. He has received honors including the Second Prize of the Beijing Science and Technology Progress Award, the Second Prize of the 10th Golden Bridge Award of the China Technology Market Association, and the 2025 “Beijing Role Model · Youth Role Model” award.
Driving Innovation on the Technology Front
Since starting his business in 2016, Zhang has led his team in tackling core technologies in virtual reality. Their work has focused on key areas such as 3D human-computer interaction, edge-cloud rendering, industry standards and data collection for embodied intelligence, contributing to China’s efforts to achieve independent and controllable key technologies in related fields.
Under his leadership, the team developed high-precision, low-latency and high-refresh-rate six-degree-of-freedom indoor 3D spatial positioning technologies, including PolarTraq, SodaTraq and StarTraq. These achievements have reached a world-leading level, supporting China’s independent development of core XR interaction technologies. The team’s mass-produced XR interaction kits have been sold to nearly 70 countries and regions.
In edge-cloud collaborative rendering, Zhang led the development of a cloud XR solution, helping China Mobile and China Manned Space build domestic cloud XR rendering platforms. The solution enables real-time rendering for fully immersive, large-scale multi-user online collaborative applications, and related technologies have been granted more than 40 patents worldwide.
In industry standards and talent cultivation, Zhang has been deeply involved in the development of China’s XR industry standard GSXR, helping promote Chinese standards alongside the international OpenXR standard. He also authored XR Application Development Practice: Based on Unity and GSXR, published by Tsinghua University Press. The book has been selected as part of a national-level new-form textbook series on virtual reality, providing support for talent development in the industry.
Exploring Embodied Intelligence in Support of National Strategies
In response to the development needs of embodied intelligence, Zhang led his team in launching the NOLO robot data collection system. The system offers a data collection solution driven by both physical and simulation-based approaches, addressing challenges in large-scale, high-fidelity and multimodal data collection for embodied intelligence. It provides a key data foundation for humanoid robot training and supports the development of new quality productive forces.
Bringing Science and Technology Closer to the Public
Zhang has remained committed to making frontier technologies more accessible to the public and better serving society. He led the creation of the “NOLO Future Digital Space” XR immersive experience brand project. In its first month of operation, the project attracted more than 5,000 visitors and received coverage from China Media Group, Beijing Radio and Television Station, People’s Daily Online, Beijing Daily and other media outlets. It has also long ranked first on Meituan’s list of top-rated new experience activities in Beijing.
The project has now been launched in more than 30 cities across China and was recognized in 2025 as a “Beijing Virtual Reality Science Popularization Base.” It has helped bring frontier technologies such as virtual reality and artificial intelligence from laboratories into urban spaces and everyday life.
The China Youth May Fourth Medal and the New Era Youth Pioneer Award are the highest honors conferred on outstanding young people in China by the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China and the All-China Youth Federation. They aim to recognize exemplary young people with political commitment, strong moral character and outstanding contributions, reflecting the spirit and values of Chinese youth in the new era.
