China honors international contributors to cultural exchange

The second Orchid Awards ceremony was held in Beijing on Thursday, honoring China's foreign friends and organizations that have promoted the shared values of humanity, facilitated cultural exchange between China and the rest of the world, and strengthened popular support for jointly building a community with a shared future for humanity.

Among the awardees were nine foreign nationals, including Irina Bokova from Bulgaria, Rashid Alimov from Tajikistan and Maxime Vivas from France. The Philadelphia Orchestra from the United States also received the award.

In their remarks, awardees stressed the importance of cultural dialog in a world facing growing uncertainty. They said that the world should seek common ground while shelving differences, deepen mutual learning, and make a shared commitment to peace and cooperation.

Hosted by the China International Communication Group, the event drew over 300 participants from relevant central departments, international organizations, diplomatic envoys in China, and representatives of Chinese and foreign think tanks and media organizations.

The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, strengthened 20 pips to 7.0108 against the U.S. dollar Monday, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.

In China's spot foreign exchange market, the yuan is allowed to rise or fall by 2 percent from the central parity rate each trading day.

The central parity rate of the yuan against the U.S. dollar is based on a weighted average of prices offered by market makers before the opening of the interbank market each business day.