China on Tuesday awarded the top ten international friends selected by Internet users for "making exceptional contributions to the country in the past 100 years."

Those who came onto the list include Norman Bethune, a Canadian doctor who died during the anti-Japanese war in the 1930s for saving Chinese soldiers; John Rabe, a German who rescued 250,000 Chinese people during the Nanjing Massacre committed by the Japanese invaders; Juan Antonio Samaranch Toriello, honorary president of the International Olympic Committee who supported China's bid for the 2008 Olympics; Edgar Snow, an American journalist who wrote the renowned book Red Star over China in the 1930s to make the Chinese Red Army world famous; Dr. Joseph Needham, a British scientist who spent some 50 years writing a milestone masterpiece Science and Civilization in China.

Also on the list are Poland-born Chinese citizen Israel Epstein, New Zealand educator Rewi Alley, Indian doctor Kwarkanath Kotnis, Thai princess Maha Chakri Sirindhom and Morihiko Hiramatsu of Japan.

Top political advisor Jia Qinglin extended appreciation for the great support and help of the prize winners and their representatives, adding the Chinese people would never forget their contribution.

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