Former Labour minister Reno Calleja has been awarded the Friendship Medal by China in recognition of his work over the past 30 years to boost relations between the two people.

Mr Calleja, president of the Malta-China Friendship Society and secretary general of the Maltese-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, received the medal from Chen Haosu, outgoing president of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries. He was in China to address a conference on China/Europe People-to-People Dialogue, held in organised in Beijing and Tianjin.

Mr Calleja said the award would spur him to continue doing the work he I strongly believed greatly benefitted Malta.

“I have always made it clear to the Chinese that I do not agree with their political system. However, I have learned to respect their system like they respect ours. I have visited China 38 times and have seen this great country changing with my own eyes. The political, social and economic changes they are making are simply breathtaking,” he said. He lauded former Labour Party leader and Prime Minister Dom Mintoff who, in the 1970s, “had the vision and courage to recognise that China will become a world player”.