Friendship Award (China)

Not to be confused with Friendship Medal (China).
The People's Republic of China Friendship Award
Awarded forForeign experts who have made outstanding contributions to the country's economic and social progress
LocationBeijing
CountryPeople's Republic of China
Presented byState Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs
State Council of the People's Republic of China
RewardsMedal, certificate
First award1950 (1950)

The Chinese Government's Friendship Award (simplified Chinese: 中国政府友谊奖; traditional Chinese: 中國政府友誼獎; pinyin: Zhōngguó Zhèngfǔ Yǒuyì Jiǎng; lit. 'Chinese Government's Friendship Award') is an award for "foreign experts who have made outstanding contributions to the country's economic and social progress" in support of the Chinese Communist Party granted by the People's Republic of China.[1][2]

Winners of the award are selected by the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs (SAFEA) under the State Council, implementing the policies of the Communist Party.[3]

The award is conferred as part of the celebrations for the National Day of the People's Republic of China (October 1).[4] The award consist of a medal and an award certificate. The medal is decorated with a picture of the Great Wall on the obverse along with the inscription "Friendship Award" in Chinese ("友谊奖", on the top), and in English (on the bottom).[4]

As of 2021, 1,799 foreigners have received the award.[5] By 2024, the number was nearly 2,000.[6]

Notable Laureates

List of Recipients
Year Name Profession Field Country Institution Citation
1994 Paul Bouchard Civil Engineer Construction (cement plant) Canada FLSmidth
1994 Horst Marschner Professor Germany University of Hohenheim [7]
1995 Jane E. Josselyn Professor Translation United States Jilin University of Technology [8]
1998 William Lindesay OBE Conservationist Environment United Kingdom University of Liverpool [9]
1999 Albert Roman Musician Music Switzerland
1999 Çetin Şengonca Professor Germany Universität Bonn [10]
2001 Roger Mason Professor Geology United Kingdom China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) [11]
2002 Kai-Ping Roger Lo Executive Industrials United States [12]
2003 Sebastian Zimmer Expert Germany
2004 Erwin Reisch Economist Economics Germany University of Hohenheim [13]
2004 Alan G. MacDiarmid Professor Chemistry United States University of Pennsylvania [14]
2004 Hans-Peter Liebig Researcher Agriculture Germany University of Hohenheim [15]
2005 Michael A. Price Project Management Institute
2005 Kishō Kurokawa Architect Design Japan University of Tokyo
2006 Sabriye Tenberken Tibetologist Sinology Germany Braille Without Borders
2006 Denis Simon Professor Technology United States [16]
2006 Peter Abplanalp Professor Business Switzerland University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Western Switzerland [17]
2007 Majid Samii Neurosurgeon Medicine Iran University of Mainz
2007 Reinhart Kühne Professor Transportation Germany [18]
2007 Robert Fontaine Physician Epidemiology United States [19]
2008 Werner Alpers Professor Germany Universität Hamburg [20]
2008 L. Reh Professor Switzerland ETH Zurich [21]
2008 John L. Thornton Professor Global Affairs United States Brookings Institution [22]
2008 Scott Rozelle Professor Economics United States Stanford University [23]
2009 Geert Roelens Businessman Belgium Bekaert
2009 Pedro Nueno Professor Spain China Europe International Business School [24]
2009 Yevgeny Kaspersky Executive Information security Russia Kaspersky Lab [25]
2009 Kirby Jefferson Executive Computing United States Intel
2010 Rolf Müller Professor Germany Virginia Tech [26]
2010 Airaldo Piva Executive Industry Italy Hengdian Group Europe [27]
2010 Christne O'Sullivan Executive Canada SGMW [28]
2010 Dustin Wilson Sport Olympic Coach Canada Chinese Ski Association
2011 Jeffrey S. Lehman Educator Education United States Cornell University [29]
2011 Thomas W. Kensler Professor United States University of Pittsburgh
2012 Hemmo Luijerink Executive Heavy Industry The Netherlands Fuwa Heavy Industry
2012 Shin-ichi Kurokawa Professor Accelerator science Japan KEK [30]
2012 Bikram S. Gill Director Agriculture United States Kansas State University
2012 Andreas DuBois Expert Renewable energy Germany [31]
2012 Bertram Brenig Professor Molecular Biology Germany Universität Göttingen [32]
2012 Colin Blakemore Professor Neuroscience United Kingdom University of Oxford [33]
2013 Daniel Cohen-Or Professor Computer science Israel Tel Aviv University
2014 Branka Vucetic Electrical engineer Electrical engineering Australia University of Sydney
2014 Pericle Predielis Expert Agriculture
2014 George Mills Expert Technology Drexel University
2014 Edmund Phelps Economist United States Columbia University
2014 Ruedi Nützi Director Switzerland University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Western Switzerland [34]
2014 Pavel Talalay Professor Polar Science Russia Jilin University [35]
2015 Gerardo Dutto Physicist Canada TRIUMF
2015 Ravi Singh Researcher Agriculture India International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center [36]
2015 Vladimir Matichenkov Researcher Soil Science Russia Institute Basic Biological Problems Russian academy of Sciences
2016 David Andrew Phoenix Biochemist Biochemistry United Kingdom London South Bank University
2016 Wolfgang Kubin Sinologist Sinology Germany University of Bonn
2016 Katharina Kohse-Hoinghause Material scientist Material science Germany
2016 Peter Grünberg Physicist Physics Germany Technische Universität Darmstadt [37]
2016 John M. Gray CBE Banker Finance United Kingdom HSBC
2016 John Hopcroft Computer scientist Computer Science United States Cornell University
2016 Anna Allabert Broadcaster Russia [38]
2016 Okyay Kaynak Professor Turkey Boğaziçi University
2016 Fredmund Malik Economist Economics Austria University of St. Gallen [39]
2017 Pierre J. Verlinden Chief Scientist Photovoltaics Australia Trina Solar [40]
2017 Pedro Antonio Valdes-Sosa Neuroscientist Cuba University of Electronic Science and Technology of China [41]
2017 Mike Wingfield Professor Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology South Africa University of Pretoria [42][43]
2018 Enrico Gennaro International Relations Expert International Cooperation Italy Accademia di Agricoltura di Torino [44]
2019 Artem R. Oganov Crystallographer Crystallography Russia Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology
2019 James Heckman Economist Economics United States University of Chicago [45]
2019 Nils Christian Stenseth Biologist Biology Norway University of Oslo [46]
2019 Bernard Bigot Physicist Physics France ITER
2021 Hiria Ottino Anthropologist Anthropology Tahiti PCFA
2022 Roger Falconer Professor Water Engineering United Kingdom Cardiff University [47]
2022 Hernan Ceballos Agronomist Cassava Breeding Argentina International Center for Tropical Agriculture CIAT [48]
2024 Yuri Gledenov Professor Nuclear Physics Russia Joint Institute for Nuclear Research
2024 Arup Neogi Distinguished Professor Semiconductor Photonics, and Acoustics United States University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
2024 Hans Thybo Distinguished Professor Geophysics Denmark SinoProbe Laboratory, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences [49]
2025 Cosimo Bambi Professor Physics Italy Fudan University [50]


History

The award traces its roots to the creation of the Medal of Sino-Soviet Friendship in 1951, when it was awarded to experts from the former Soviet Union and East European countries by the then premier Zhou Enlai and the foreign minister Chen Yi.[4] On September 15, 1955, the Chinese government decreed that each departing Soviet expert be issued a medal.[51] This medal featured the flags of China and the Soviet Union along with the inscription "Long live the Sino-Soviet Friendship" (Chinese: 中苏友谊万岁; pinyin: Zhōng–Sū Yǒuyì Wànsuì).[51] The friendship award was abolished with the Sino-Soviet split in the early 1960s. During the period that followed, in particular the Cultural Revolution, foreigners in China were often regarded as "spies" and very few remained in the country.[51] The new Friendship Award was introduced by the Communist Party in 1991 following China's reopening.[14]

References

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