Yongsheng Ma is a sedimentologist, petroleum geologist, and member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. He is also the president and chief geologist of Sinopec. A pioneer in the theoretical research on China’s marine carbonate oil and gas exploration and a major contributor to the discoveries of the Puguang and Yuanba gas fields and the Fuling shale gas field, he won first prize in the National Science and Technology Progress Awards in 2006, 2014 and 2017. The discovery and theoretical & technological advances made in the Puguang gas field were selected as one of the "Top Ten Scientific and Technological Advances in China in 2006" by 565 academicians from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering. In 2007, he won the Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation Prize for Scientific and Technological Achievement and the Li Siguang Prize for Geological Science. He has published more than 150 papers in AAPG Bulletin, Marine Petroleum Geology and other academic journals, and as well as five monographs. His monograph " Marine Oil and Gas Exploration in China" was nominated for the 2nd China Publishing Government Award, and was selected by the Chinese government as the key translation book that was funded by "B&R Book Program" in 2015. In recognition of his outstanding work, the IAU Minor Planet Center announced that International Asteroid Number 210292 be named Ma Yongsheng in 2017.
