Gongyi Xu was graduated from the School of Civil Engineering at Southwest Jiaotong University in 1984. As the chief engineer, He has led and completed the design of over 30 major bridges, among which typical representatives are Shantou Bay Bridge, Xiwan Bridge in Macau, Xiling Yangtze River Bridge, Taizhou Yangtze River Bridge, Yangsigang Yangtze River bridge, and Wufengshan Yangtze River Bridge, He was elected National Design Master in 2006 and won the first Chinese National Outstanding Engineer Award in 2014, as the only one in bridge engineering nationwide in China. He was the sole winner of ICE’s International Medal in 2018, recognized for his outstanding achievements in long span suspension bridge designs. In 2018, he was awarded the John A. Roebling Medal and recognized for lifetime contribution on the bridge engineering worldwide. He is the technological pioneer of China's large-span modern suspension bridges, making unremitting efforts and outstanding contributions to technological progress. It is precisely based on his contributions that the large-scale construction of large-span high-speed railway suspension bridges in China has solved the key problem which restricts the improvement of the high-speed railway network.