Pakistan confers Sitara-i-Quaid-i-Azam on Mr Cui Jun, President CEN, China

BEIJING: The Embassy of Pakistan in Beijing hosted a special investiture ceremony to confer Pakistan’s prestigious civil awards on five Chinese nationals in recognition of their outstanding contributions to Pakistan and the strengthening of Pakistan-China relations.

Pakistan’s Ambassador to China, Khalil Hashmi, represented President Asif Ali Zardari in presenting the awards to the recipients, acknowledging their distinguished services in fields ranging from media and research to disaster management and nuclear cooperation.

Mr Cui Jun, President of China Economic Net, was awarded the Sitara-i-Quaid-i-Azam for his role in promoting Pakistan-China friendship through extensive coverage of Pakistan, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and bilateral cooperation initiatives.

Wang Yongge, Chairman and Party Secretary of China Zhongyuan Engineering Corporation, received the Hilal-i-Quaid-i-Azam in recognition of his contributions to cooperation on the peaceful use of nuclear energy between the two countries since 1996.

The embassy noted that nuclear energy cooperation remained an important pillar of the longstanding strategic partnership between Beijing and Islamabad.

Xu Zhaodong, Director of the China-Pakistan Belt and Road Joint Laboratory for Smart Disaster Prevention at Southeast University, was conferred the Sitara-e-Imtiaz for his work in earthquake engineering, structural vibration control and disaster mitigation.

Xu was credited with implementing Pakistan’s first seismic isolation project using viscous-elastic damping technology, contributing significantly to disaster prevention and mitigation capabilities in the country.

Cui Peng, Chief Scientist and founder of the China-Pakistan Earth Science Research Center under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, also received the Sitara-e-Imtiaz.

Professor Cui was recognised for promoting bilateral cooperation in earth sciences and organising training programmes for young Pakistani scientists in areas such as climate change, natural disaster mitigation and remote sensing technology.

Meanwhile, Qian Feng, Director of Research Department and senior fellow at the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University, was awarded the Tamgha-e-Quaid-i-Azam for his academic research and commentary aimed at deepening mutual understanding between the people of China and Pakistan.

Pakistan’s civil awards are among the country’s highest state honours and are conferred upon individuals who render exceptional service to Pakistan or contribute to promoting its relations with other countries.

The ceremony underscored the enduring strategic partnership between China and Pakistan — often described by leaders of both countries as an “Iron Brotherhood” — and highlighted the role played by scholars, researchers, media professionals and experts in strengthening bilateral cooperation across multiple sectors.