On the afternoon of February 13, Chinese Premier Li Qiang hosted a symposium at the Great Hall of the People for representatives of the foreign experts who won the 2025 Chinese Government Friendship Award, as well as other foreign experts working in China. Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang attended the event. Prof. Peter Ditmanson from the History Department of Yuelu Academy was invited to participate as an awardee.

Li extended Chinese New Year wishes and sincere greetings to the foreign experts, and thanked them for their long-term concern and support for China's modernization efforts. He also listened to their opinions and suggestions on China's development and government work.

Prof. Ditmanson once served as a senior research fellow at the Pembroke College of the University of Oxford and as secretary of the Society for Ming Studies in North America. His research focuses on the history of the Ming Dynasty. Since joining Yuelu Academy in December 2018, he has devoted himself to teaching, offering multiple courses that are highly popular among students. Concurrently, he actively promotes international academic collaboration. As an initiator of the "Oral History of Yuelu Academy" project, he has compiled nearly 200,000 words of faculty and staff oral history records, covering the modern renaissance of Yuelu Academy. He has been in charge of the translation work of the "Regulations of Yuelu Academy" and the "Yuelu Academy Gazetteer." He also works for the English web portal of the Hunan Provincial People's Government as a foreign language consultant. Additionally, he has been interviewed by the China Global Television Network (CGTN) three times to discuss the characteristics of Chinese civilization.

Prof. Peter Ditmanson, front row, left.