Ezra F. Vogel, an 82-year-old Harvard University social sciences emeritus professor and author of Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China, was honored on March 23 with two other renowned researchers for their outstanding contributions to China studies.

Dr. Sergei Leonidovich Tikhvinsky, 94, academician of the Russian Academy of Science and former ambassador to China, was also presented the Award for Outstanding Contribution to China Studies at the opening session of the Fifth World Forum on China Studies.

Jao Tsung-I, a 95-year-old emeritus professor of Chinese language and literature at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, earned the Award for Outstanding Contribution to China Studies by an Overseas Chinese, a newly minted version of the general award.

Initiated in 2004, the high-profile forum aims to nurture new views and approaches in China studies while promoting mutual understanding and academic exchanges between Chinese and overseas scholars.