On September 30, the 2026 Chinese Government Friendship Award ceremony was grandly held at the Great Hall of the People. Shen Yiqin, State Councilor of the People’s Republic of China, presented the award to the winning foreign experts. Anatoli Tozik, Director of the Confucius Institute at Dalian University of Technology (DUT), President of the China-Belarus Friendship Association, and former Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus, received this prestigious honor in recognition of his outstanding contributions to promoting China-Belarus cultural exchanges, sinology research and educational cooperation.

With the solid platform of the Confucius Institute co-built with DUT, Tozik has long been rooted in the frontline of China-Belarus people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and has always been committed to the popularization of the Chinese language and the overseas dissemination of Chinese culture. Driven by his active efforts, the co-built Confucius Institute has formally incorporated Chinese language education into Belarus’ national education system, bringing Chinese language and culture into Belarusian campuses and integrating them into the local education development landscape, laying a solid foundation for bilateral basic education cooperation. Meanwhile, based on academic research and cultural communication, he has co-authored multiple books on socialism with Chinese characteristics and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) with DUT’s dispatched teachers. Through professional academic perspectives and authoritative publications, he has helped Belarusian society gain a true, multi-dimensional and comprehensive understanding of China, and narrowed the distance between the hearts of the two peoples.

Since taking office at the Confucius Institute, Director Tozik has taken it as his mission to advance mutual learning between the two civilizations and deepen educational cooperation between Dalian University of Technology and Belarusian State University. He is a witness, facilitator and practitioner of China-Belarus friendly exchanges. With remarkable exchange outcomes and far-reaching social influence, he has received multiple honors including the 7th Brilliance of China, the Certificate for Brilliance of CI from the World Chinese Language Conference, and the Medal for Long Service as a Confucius Institute Director. His years of dedication epitomize the responsibility and commitment of an envoy for Sino-foreign cultural exchanges.

Director Tozik said it was a great honor to receive the Chinese Government Friendship Award. "This honor belongs not only to me personally, but to all those dedicated to the cause of China-Belarus friendship. It would not have been possible without the collaborative support of our Chinese partner Dalian University of Technology, and I sincerely thank the Chinese government for its trust and support," he noted. "I will continue to promote Chinese language teaching and sinology research, foster mutual understanding and affinity between the youth of the two countries, deepen educational cooperation and mutual learning between civilizations, and contribute to carrying forward China-Belarus friendship and advancing the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative."

The Chinese Government Friendship Award is the highest honor established by the Chinese government to recognize foreign experts who have made outstanding contributions to China’s modernization drive and reform and opening-up. It is highly prestigious and enjoys far-reaching influence.

Director Tozik’s receipt of the award is not only a high-level national recognition of his decades of dedication to China-Belarus people-to-people and educational exchanges and his commitment to friendly cooperation, but also a full endorsement of DUT’s efforts in advancing international Chinese language education and promoting China-Belarus friendly cooperation. As the leading institution of the China-Belarus University Alliance, Dalian University of Technology will take this opportunity to continue leveraging its strengths in international education, deepen practical cooperation with Belarus in education, science and technology, and people-to-people and cultural fields, continue to build bridges and expand channels of communication between the two countries, deepen dialogue between civilizations and enhance people-to-people connectivity, so as to contribute more DUT strengths to advancing comprehensive China-Belarus friendly cooperation, supporting high-quality development of the joint Belt and Road Initiative, and facilitating mutual learning between Chinese and Belarusian civilizations.