Fifty foreign experts were honored with the Friendship Award by China at a ceremony in Beijing on Thursday for their contributions to the country's economic and social development.

Vice Premier Wu Yi, who presented the awards, said at the ceremony that the foreign experts brought China advanced technology, expertise and management methods, all of which are needed in China's process of modernization.

China sincerely welcomes foreign experts to work here and will provide them with a more favorable living and working environment and services, Wu said, noting that China's comprehensive social and economic development will help create enormous opportunities for foreign experts to work in China, and contribute more to world peace and development.

While China attaches great importance to developing domestic expertise under the strategy of nurturing talent, she acknowledged that the country will continue to make more efforts to draw skilled foreigners by further improving the conditions for them, by facilitating their transfer from their home countries through improved regulations, and by protecting their interests.

The "Friendship Award" is the highest honor that the Chinese government confers to foreign experts who have made outstanding contributions to China's economic and social progress. A total of 850 foreign experts from 55 countries have received the award since 1991.

More than 200,000 foreign experts come to China to work each year.

This year's award winners were from 21 countries including Australia, Britain, France, Germany, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States, 35 are experts in the sphere of economic technology, and the other 15 work in the culture and education fields, according to sources with the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs.

(Xinhua News Agency September 30, 2005)