Second Silk Road Friendship Award Ceremony held online

The second Silk Road Friendship Award Ceremony was held online on May 31. Themed on sharing the stories of the builders of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the event attracted over 500 participants from home and abroad.

(Photo/Global People Magazine)

The event was jointly hosted by the China International Culture Exchange Center (CICEC) and the Global People Magazine of People’s Daily, and co-organized by the China International Culture & Arts Co. Ltd. (CICAC) and the Peace Culture Development Group.

The event was attended by many celebrities and political heavyweights. Yang Chuantang, Vice Chairman of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and Chairman of the CICEC, recognized the fruitful achievements of the BRI since its inception nine years ago in his speech, and said that sharing the stories of the builders of the BRI will contribute to the building of a better planet, the only home for mankind.

Yu Shaoliang, Editor-in-Chief of People’s Daily, said in his speech that the new achievements of the high-quality development of the BRI could not be made without the wisdom and actions of people living along its route. Sharing the stories of these builders will facilitate friendly exchanges among people of all countries, as well as a community with a shared future for mankind. He called on more Ambassadors of Silk Road Friendship to contribute their efforts for a better future.

Ambassador of Silk Road Friendship Gulnar Shaimergenova from Kazakhstan (Photo/Global People Magazine)

Ambassador of Silk Road Friendship Mohanad Ali Moh'd Shalabi from Jordan (Photo/Global People Magazine)

Ambassador of Silk Road Friendship Normunds Kotans from Latvia (Photo/Global People Magazine)

Ambassador of Silk Road Friendship Ibrokhim Y. Abdurakhmonov from Uzbekistan (Photo/Global People Magazine)

Ambassador of Silk Road Friendship Chai Yang from Laos (Photo/Global People Magazine)

Ambassador of Silk Road Friendship Sean Dara from Cambodia (Photo/Global People Magazine)

Ambassador of Silk Road Friendship Athuai Deng Akok from South Sudan (Photo/Global People Magazine)

Ambassador of Silk Road Friendship Rehmat Ali from Pakistan (Photo/Global People Magazine)

Ambassador of Silk Road Friendship Simon Williams from Australia (Photo/Global People Magazine)

Ambassador of Silk Road Friendship Sonja Mühlberger from Germany (Photo/Global People Magazine)

Ambassador of Silk Road Friendship Li Yang from Thailand (Photo/Global People Magazine)

Ambassador of Silk Road Friendship Ahmed Waqas Bhatty from Pakistan (Photo/Global People Magazine)

Dr. Ramon Maria Calduch from Spain addresses the ceremony on behalf of a group of recipients who became Ambassadors of Silk Road Friendship (Photo/Global People Magazine)

Twelve individuals received the honorary title of the Ambassador of Silk Road Friendship. The recipients are listed as follows: Gulnar Shaimergenova from Kazakhstan, a scholar who helped her country send its wheat to Vietnam via China for the first time; Jordanian businessman Mohanad Ali Moh'd Shalabi, a dispute mediator in Yiwu, east China's Zhejiang Province; Ibrokhim Y. Abdurakhmonov, Minister of Innovative Development of Uzbekistan who contributed to a community of health along the Silk Road; Chai Yang, a young man from Laos who became a veteran worker in housing construction under the China-Laos Railway project with the help of his Chinese supervisor; Sean Dara, a Cambodian youth committed to China-Cambodia cooperation; Athuai Deng Akok, an employee of China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd. from South Sudan who protected his Chinese colleagues and guarded the compound of his company whenever armed conflict broke out; Rehmat Ali, a Pakistani doctor who followed in the footsteps of his father and worked on the upgrading of the Karakoram Highway; Simon Williams, an Australian wind power specialist who has provided an example of cooperation in the area of renewable resources between China and Australia; Sonja Mühlberger from Germany, who has committed time and effort to recording the history of Jewish refugees in Shanghai; Li Yang, a musician who promoted friendly relations between China and Thailand through a traditional Chinese musical instrument called the “guzheng”; Ahmed Waqas Bhatty, a Pakistani doctor who promoted cooperation in organ transplantation between China and Pakistan; and, Normunds Kotans, a Latvian expert at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games who participated in the design of the National Sliding Centre, dubbed the "Flying Snow Dragon."

Another group of recipients who became Ambassadors of Silk Road Friendship included six supporters of traditional Chinese medicine from different countries along the Belt and Road.

A Silk Road Fund Announcing Session was also held during the event.