China is a vibrant land full of opportunities, providing broad space for foreign talents to work and achieve, according to experts who had won the 2023 Chinese Government Friendship Award.

An award ceremony was held on Sunday at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing to commend 50 foreign experts from 26 countries for their outstanding contributions to China's reform and development. The event that officially began in 1991 has honored nearly 1,900 foreigners from over 80 countries and regions.

Saulebek Kabylbekov, a Kazakh ophthalmologist from Daqing Ophthalmology Hospital in Heilongjiang Province, who moved to China in 1998, was among the recipients of the 2023 award.

"Over the 25 years, I've cured 200,000 Chinese patients of eye diseases. In the meantime, I've been deeply in love with Heilongjiang and with China," he said at the award ceremony.

"It will be especially memorable this time since I am honored with the Chinese Government Friendship Award, which is more than an acknowledgment of my work; it's an affirmation of the friendship between China and Kazakhstan," Kabylbekov said, adding that he is willing to serve Chinese patients and make new contributions to the friendship between the two countries.

Erik Solheim, a Norwegian expert and former under-secretary-general of the United Nations, said he has witnessed China's great achievements in ecological civilization construction over these years. He also said that the award highlights the importance of solidarity and cooperation among countries in the face of global challenges.

"The foundation for a lasting partnership lies in two fundamental principles: Respect for each other and dialogue between civilizations. As friends of China, we will try to pursue this," Solheim said.

China is a vibrant land full of opportunities, providing broad space for foreign experts and other talents for their own development, recipients of the award noted, adding that they will continue to participate deeply in China's development, and continue to serve as a bridge of communication between China and the rest of the world.

"China is making a huge effort to introduce foreign talents. It will continue to be attractive to the world's best talent in the future providing it remains of mutual benefit, which is obviously the condition for successful international collaboration," said Yvon Marie Efflam Le Maho, a French expert on biodiversity and a member of the French Academy of Sciences.

"I plan to strengthen the collaboration with my Chinese colleagues. They have, in my view, already achieved an excellent scientific level," Maho said.

It is a good policy for China to attract talents in various fields from around the world to help and support China's development, said Mikhail Morozov, deputy editor-in-chief of Russia's Trud newspaper.

"In the future China will be a very popular destination for experts," said NYU Shanghai Provost Joanna Waley-Cohen. "The more that people come to China, the better they know about China because you can not understand China without coming here in person."