BEIJING, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- China, for the fifth year, honored 100 excellent college teachers ahead of the nation's Teachers' Day that falls on Sept. 10.

Among the 100 teachers, 80 are from undergraduate schools, 20 from three-year colleges, the oldest being 71 and youngest 41. Two are academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, 19 are women, and five also act as leaders of their respective schools.

Liu Guiqin, an official with the Ministry of Education, said the award was set up to reemphasize the role of teaching, which was rendered less important in a system where college teachers' performance was largely evaluated according to their research work.

To do so, the award sets a criterion that candidates must teach for no less than 64 class hours per year if they come from undergraduate schools, and 240 class hours per year if they come from three-year colleges.

The award favors teachers who teach freshmen and sophomores and provides a quota of no more than 5 percent for candidates who are also school leaders.

State Councilor Liu Yandong attended the awards ceremony.