Prestigious Chinese award for UNE graduate - University of New England

At a recent ceremony in Beijing, the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) presented Dr Victor R Squires with a Science and Technology Cooperation Friendship Award from the Chinese Central Government. Three persons were so honoured, including Dr Squires, who holds BA, LittB and MA(Hons) from UNE (all completed as an external student).

The Friendship Award, administered by the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs and authorised by the State Council of the People's Republic of China, is the highest level of honour to commend foreign experts for their contribution and dedication to China's economic and scientific development. The annual "Friendship Award," is given to foreign experts who have worked in China and made great contributions to the country's development. Two scientists from Australia, among others, have received this prestigious distinction. Dr Squires is one of just 50 recipients, chosen from more than 300,000 foreign experts working in China, to ever receive this prestigious award that was inaugurated in 1991.

Dr Squires, a world renowned dryland sustainable development expert, is retired from the Adelaide University in Australia and a former Dean and the founder of its Faculty of Natural Resources and the founding Director of the National Key Centre for Dryland Agriculture and Land Use Systems. Since his first visit to China in 1985 for the implementation of his international collaboration program, he has worked in 12 provinces in north China for cumulatively over 65 man-months. In the past two decades, Dr. Squires has made significant contribution to the advancement of China's dryland research and technological development

He was the first to advocate the development of a participatory land monitoring system in China, which significantly advanced the grassland resource inventory and monitoring methodologies. These have provided the paradigm for China's desertification monitoring.

The award is a testament to Dr Squires' outstanding contribution to the prosperous relationship between Australia and China. He has been involved in China since 1985 when he went as an exchange scholar under the auspices of the Australian Academy of Science and Academia Sinica. He made many subsequent visits under the auspices of the Australia- China Council, UNDP, ADB and the World Bank.

State Councillor, Liu Yandong, a Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, presented the Award on behalf of the Chinese government. The presentation ceremony was officiated by the Deputy Minister of Ministry of Science and Technology, Cao Jianlin. Other attendees included the Swiss Ambassador to China, the Australian Embassy Scientific Counsellor (Iain WATT), the German Embassy Counsellor (Science and Technology), and relatives and friends of the recipients.