A ceremony and award distribution marking the 20th anniversary of the Zhejiang West Lake Friendship Awards is held in Hangzhou on Oct 21. [photo/safea.gov.cn]

A ceremony and award distribution marking the 20th anniversary of the Zhejiang West Lake Friendship Awards was held in Hangzhou on October 21. Thirty-three foreign experts received awards.

Che Jun, vice governor of Zhejiang, attends the ceremony and presents the West Lake Friendship Outstanding Contribution Award to a foreign expert. [photo/safea.gov.cn]

Che Jun, vice governor of Zhejiang, attended the ceremony and presented the West Lake Friendship Outstanding Contribution Award to three foreign experts, and the West Lake Friendship Award to another 30 experts.

Thirty-three foreign experts receives awards on the ceremony. [photo/safea.gov.cn]

Che said that the West Lake Friendship Award is the top-level award given out by the Zhejiang government to honor foreign experts who have made outstanding contributions to the development of Zhejiang. Since its establishment in 1997, 599 foreign experts have won the award, and 42 of them have also won the Chinese Government Friendship Award.