Ezra Vogel, author of Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China, was honored on Saturday for his outstanding contribution in the studies of China together with two other renowned researchers.

In a prerecorded audio clip, Vogel, 82, said that he was "deeply moved to be recognized in China as one who has seriously endeavored to interpret China to the West and to enter into the internal discussion within China as scholars here make an effort to understand the Deng era and how it transformed China."

Vogel's book on Deng was first published in English in 2011 and in simplified Chinese earlier this year.

Dr. Sergei Leonidovich Tikhvinsky, 94, academician to 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.

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

All three laureates were unable to attend the ceremony.

The award was introduced by the forum's organizer in 2010, when four distinguished scholars were honored.

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

This year's forum, with the theme of "China's Modernization: Road and Prospect," attracted 300 scholars from more than 20 countries and regions and is scheduled to run until Sunday.

(Xinhua News Agency March 23, 2013)