Winners of the 11th Fu Lei Translation and Publishing Awards unveiled

The winners of the 11th Fu Lei Translation and Publishing Awards were unveiled in Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan province on Saturday.

Jin Longge won the top award for literature for the translation of Louis-Ferdinand Céline's "Castle to Castle," and the top award for social sciences went to Zhang Gen for his translation of "Ethics: Subjectivity and Truth" by Michel Foucault.

Kong Qian was honored as Best New Translator for translating Kaouther Adimi's "Our Wealth."

A total of 44 works competed for this year's award, including 29 in social sciences and 15 in literature. In September, a list of 10 finalists was announced at a news conference in Beijing.

Established by the French Embassy in China in 2009, the awards are dedicated to honoring prominent Chinese translators who introduce French literature and academic works to Chinese readers.

In his speech at the awarding ceremony, French Ambassador to China Laurent Bili said that in recent years China has been France's largest partner in the publishing industry and Chinese has led as the first language of sale for French publishers and writers.

He added that to facilitate collaboration between France and China in publishing, it is important to highlight the value of the work of translators. "Benefiting from them, Chinese readers are able to get close to these French works."

The winners of the Fu Lei Translation and Publishing Awards have become younger in recent years, said Dong Qiang, chairman of the organizing committee of the Fu Lei Translation and Publishing Awards and director of the French Language and Literature Department at Peking University.

He believes that the key to this award is to motivate more people, especially young people, to participate in translation work. Only by bringing more "fresh blood" to the translation industry can good foreign language works be continuously introduced to Chinese readers.