China’s president has presented national medals and honorary titles to 42 people.
Xi Jinping bestowed the awards upon the honorees in a lavish ceremony Sunday in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People.
Among the recipients was Nobel Prize winner in Physiology or Medicine Tu Youyou.
Former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin was awarded a friendship medal.
The ceremony comes ahead of the celebrations Tuesday commemorating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.
