Twenty-three Chinese students studying in Midwest U.S. received an annual Chinese government award Friday.

The Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-Financed Students Abroad is a scholarship set up by the China Scholarship Council to honor overseas Chinese students with outstanding academic accomplishment, Chinese Deputy Consul General to Chicago Lu Kun said at a ceremony here.

Ninety-three Chinese students studying in Midwest U.S. have received the award since it was established in 2003.

In total, this award has been presented to 506 Chinese students pursuing study abroad in 29 nations this year.

The Chinese government, always valuing overseas Chinese students and creating favorable working conditions for their return, has launched a series of programs including the Recruitment Program of Global Experts to encourage overseas elite Chinese scientists and talents back to China, Lu said.

Lu also expressed his hope that overseas Chinese students cherish the opportunity to study in the United States and make the best of it, in order to serve their motherland better.

"It's a great honor for me. I am about to graduate this year, and I feel one day I will be going back to China as I have learned chemistry for so many years," said Chen Jiawei, who graduated from Peking University five years ago and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry at Washington University.

"It's my sincere wish that I will contribute all I have learnt here to local companies in China," Chen added.

Yan Chao, a recipient of the reward who has been invited by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) to pay a visit to CAS and other leading research institutes in China this summer, told Xinhua that many overseas Chinese student talents, willing to make their own contribution, wish to go back and work in China.

Yan said he felt so lucky to get the chance to go inside CAS and other research institutes, and that he will be more than happy to start his career in China.

The Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-Financed Students Abroad, which includes a 5,000-U.S.-dollar cash prize and a certificate, recognizes self-financed students who are under 40, holding Chinese passports and attending doctoral programs lasting more than one year.