A Chinese businessman has been awarded an honor for his contribution to US-China relations by a US organization, according to the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC).

Announcing Liu Chuanzhi, chairman of the board of directors of Lenovo Holdings, as its biyearly honoree of recognitions for his contribution to US-China relations, Stephen Orlins, president of the National Committee on US-China Relations (NCUSCR), said it is the first time for NCUSCR to award this honor to a Chinese.

In his letter to the CPAFFC, Stephen Orlins said that business and trade are becoming more significant in US-China relations. Lenovo's acquisition of IBM's PC business is one prominent case of such significance.

Lenovo Group, China's personal computer giant completed on May 1 this year its acquisition of Big Blue's PC unit for US$1.25 billion, and another US$500 million for liabilities and overhead, marking the birth of the third largest PC enterprise in the world.

"As the initial founder of Lenovo, Mr.Liu naturally falls in this year's stellar group of honorees," said Orlins in his letter.

Other honorees this year include Karen House, publisher of the Wall Street Journal, Frederick Smith, chairman of FedEx Corporation and John Thornton, director of the Global Leadership Program at China's Tsinghua University and former president of Goldman Sachs.

The NCUSCR, founded in New York in 1966, is a non-government diplomatic group that works to build constructive US-China relations.

(Xinhua News Agency September 16, 2005)