The Touching China Awards that recognize the country's most inspiring role models were announced on China Central Television last week.

Zhang Chao, the PLA Navy fighter who died in a training session, was among the 10 winners along with a doctor, two educators, two scientists and a hero who saved people's lives in a fire. Let's have a look at their stories.

Pilot Zhang Chao poses for a photo before flying a J-15 "Flying Shark" fighter jet. The 29-year-old lieutenant commander died in April during a routine training exercise. [Provided to China Daily]

Zhang Chao

Zhang served as a pilot in the aircraft unit of the PLA Navy. He died in a routine training exercise in April.

Zhang was recruited by the navy in 2004. After training as a fighter pilot for five years, he joined a naval aviation squadron. In 2015, he passed stringent selection procedures to become a pilot in the country's first carrier-based aviation force.

The 29-year-old was the first member of the unit to die in the line of duty.

Click to read the story of China's carrier-based air unit