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Published 16 October 2024Dr Brent Clothier presented with Chinese Government Friendship Award
Dr Brent Clothier FRSNZ, Past-President of Royal Society Te Apārangi, was presented with a Chinese Government Friendship Award in Beijing recently. Brent is a Principal Scientist with Plant & Food Research in Palmerston North.
The Chinese Government's Friendship Award is the People's Republic of China's highest award for "… foreign experts who have made outstanding contributions to the country's economic and social progress".
This year there were 73 awardees from 26 countries recognised as "...foreign experts who have made outstanding contributions to China's modernization drive, reform, and opening up".
The awards were presented in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing by Her Excellency Shen Yiqin, State Councillor, and President of the All-China Women’s Federation.
Following the awards ceremony, the awardees and their guests were invited to join 2000 dignitaries for dinner in the Great Hall of the People to celebrate 75 years of the People’s Republic of China. The celebratory dinner was hosted by President Xi Jinping.
Established in 1991, some 1900 foreign experts have been presented with Friendship Awards.
Brent has worked with Chinese collaborators for nearly 25 years, having especially close links to Beijing Forestry University and China Agricultural University where Brent has Adjunct Distinguished Professorships. Brent has published some 20 papers with Chinese collaborators on soil physics, plant physics, plant water-use, climate change, and water-resource management.
Brent was elected an Academician (International) of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) in 2019. Brent is the only Academician (International) in the CAE from Aotearoa New Zealand.