In August 2002, Hawking met with then Chinese president Jiang Zemin. Hawking praised China's scientific achievements and predicted China might become a global technological powerhouse by 2050, according to Xinhua News Agency.

In 2006, Hawking gave a speech on the nature of the universe to an audience of more than 6,300 people at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, making him one of the few foreign scientists to speak there.

Hawking was an outstanding scientist who cared deeply about China's scientific development and had great interactions with Chinese scientists and science lovers, Lu Kang, Foreign Ministry spokesman, said on Wednesday.

"We mourn deeply the tragic loss of Mr Hawking. His character and his contributions shall forever be remembered," he said.

Bo Leung in London and Zhou Wenting in Shanghai contributed to this story.