Prof. Zhongmin Liu got his PhD in 1990 from Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Now he is the Director of the same Institute, the Director of National R&D Center on Low-carbon Catalysis and Engineering, a member of Chinese Academy of Engineering.

Prof. Liu has long been working on zeolite catalysis research, process development and technology transfer, and made significant achievements. Prof. Liu’ team finished the first industrial demonstration test of methanol to olefin process, named as DMTO, and then licensed to 36 units with a total olefins production capacity of 24 Mt/a. He also developed C1 route ethanol production technology (carbonylation of dimethylether and further hydrogenation), and realized its commercialization. He also developed methanol-naphtha, methanol-gasoline, CO₂-naphtha coupling technologies to olefin and aromatics.

Prof. Liu has published more than 600 research papers and filed 500 patents or more. He also received many awards, including The Top Prize of the Technology Invention Award by Chinese Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation (CPCIF)(2025), China Molecular Sieves Achievement Award (2025), The First Class of the National Scientific and Technological Progress Award (2017), Chinese Catalytic Achievement Award (2017), The First Class of the National Technological Invention Awards (2014), etc.