The Chinese Government's Friendship Award () is the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

's highest award for "foreign experts who have made outstanding contributions to the country's economic and social progress".Foreign Experts Given China Friendship Award - State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, September 28, 2008
/ref> The award was first established as 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 Zhou Enlai ( zh, s=周恩来, p=Zhōu Ēnlái, w=Chou1 Ên1-lai2; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman, diplomat, and revolutionary who served as the first Premier of the People's Republic of China from September 1954 unti ...

and the foreign minister Chen Yi.Friendship Award, State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs (official website, in Chinese)
On September 15, 1955, the Chinese government decreed that each departing Soviet expert be issued a medal.Evolution of the Friendship Award, China Weekly, November 30, 2009 (in Chinese) This medal featured the flags of China and the Soviet Union along with the inscription "Long live the Sino-Soviet Friendship" (). The friendship award was abolished with the

Sino-Soviet split The Sino-Soviet split was the gradual worsening of relations between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) during the Cold War. This was primarily caused by divergences that arose from their ...

in the early 1960s. During the period that followed, in particular the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

, foreigners in China were often regarded as "spies" and very few remained in the country. After the reopening of China, a new Friendship Award was reintroduced in 1991. Since then, the winners have been selected by the

State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs The State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs (SAFEA; ) is an external name used by China's Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. SAFEA was previously its own agency of the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) that ...

(SAFEA) under the State Council. The award is conferred as part of the celebrations for the

National Day of the People's Republic of China National Day ( zh, s=国庆节, t=, p=guóqìng jié, l=national celebration day, links=yes), officially the National Day of the People's Republic of China (), is a public holiday in China celebrated annually on 1 October as the national da ...

(October 1). The award consist of a medal and an award certificate. The medal is decorated with a picture of the

Great Wall The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand Li (unit), ''li'' long wall") is a series of fortifications in China. They were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection agains ...

on the obverse along with the inscription "Friendship Award" in Chinese ("友谊奖", on the top), and in English (on the bottom). Besides the national friendship award, various local foreign expert awards are also being made at the provincial, regional, and municipal levels. , 1,799 foreigners have received the award.

Notable Laureates

References

{{reflist Academic awards in China Chinese awards Foreign relations of China