Ecuadorian receives China book award

QUITO－Ecuadorian writer Veronica Bonilla has received the Special Book Award for 2021, the highest recognition by China for a foreign writer.

At an emotional ceremony held on Monday at the Chinese embassy in Ecuador, Bonilla received a golden statuette for her outstanding contribution to promoting Chinese culture.

"I feel happy, honored and pleased to be the first Ecuadorian to receive this award and also to be the first Latin American to receive it. It is a very important thing, it fills me with pride and happiness," said Bonilla, visibly moved.

"I am writing about China, a country that I fell in love with when I had the opportunity to get to know it because I want the children of the world to get to know China."

Bonilla won the award for her richly illustrated book Platanario en China published in 2019.

The book, based on Bonilla's visit to China in 2016, follows the journey of the extraterrestrial character Platanario to China, where Platanario explores many aspects of Chinese culture such as calligraphy, the zodiac, Chinese shadow puppetry and opera. The China Special Book Award has been awarded since 2005 to foreign translators, writers and publishers who have made significant contributions to promoting Chinese culture globally.

An official ceremony was held in Beijing in September last year to present the awards to 15 recipients from 14 countries. Ecuadorian Ambassador to China Carlos Larrea received the award on Bonilla's behalf. Monday's ceremony in the Ecuadorian capital Quito was attended by Chinese Ambassador to Ecuador Chen Guoyou and acting Ecuadorian Vice Foreign Minister Augusto Saa.

Saa said Bonilla's work is an example of the value of culture as a means of union between peoples. "Our countries have managed to develop an active cultural diplomacy and a powerful soft power tool that has contributed to mutual understanding," he said.

Larrea said in a speech online that the award won by Bonilla has become "a significant achievement of cultural exchange" between Ecuador and China, adding that an opera based on Platanario en China will be staged in cooperation with China National Children's Center Theater.

In addition, an agreement has been reached with the Cervantes Institute in Beijing on a similar opera staging in Spanish.

Xinhua