Contemporary Chinese writer Han Shaogong has received a top honor from the French Ministry of Culture and Communication for his outstanding contribution to promoting Sino-French cultural exchanges.

The honor, the "Chevalier de L'ordre des Arts et des Lettres", was issued by Catherine Tasca, minister of Culture and Communication, and is one of the three awards launched by the French government for literature and art.

Han is the second Chinese writer to win the honor after Chinese novelist Lu Wenfu who now serves as vice-chairman of the Chinese Writers' Association.

Han, a native of Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province, and now chairman of Hainan Provincial Federation of Literature and Art, is well-known for his great number of short stories. He has also translated foreign literary works into Chinese.

Many of Han's novels have been translated into English, French, German, Japanese, Russian and Italian. Six of his novels have been translated into French and published in France.

(Xinhua News Agency June 20, 2002)