The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 2 plus 6 letter word TU YOUYOU
I've seen this crossword clue in Independent
T
U
Y
O
U
Y
O
U
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "First woman in China to win a Nobel prize" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case first woman in china to win a nobel prize = tu youyou.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.