BEIJING -- The Xplorer Prize, one of China's highest grants for young scientists, will set up a new category of medical science starting from 2022.

A non-government award, the prize was initiated by Tencent Chairman and CEO Ma Huateng, together with a number of renowned scientists in 2018. It aims to support full-time Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macao-based science professionals aged 45 or below engage in fundamental science and cutting-edge technology research.

The aim of adding the new award category is to "encourage research to improve people's health and solve fundamental problems in the field of medical science," Tencent said in a statement.

It will award scientists for their contribution across fields including basic medicine, clinical medicine, pharmacy, public health and biomedical engineering.

Despite the category addition, the annual award quota of 50 people remains unchanged. Each winner will be awarded a total of 3 million yuan (about 470,700 U.S. dollars) over the course of five years, according to the company.

The prize nomination and application will be open until April 15, and the winner's list will be announced in September.