On June 18th, the Awarding Ceremony of the 17th Special Book Award of China was held in Beijing. FLTRP partner and President of Albania Knowledge Publishing House, Petrit Ymeri, was honored with this year's Special Book Award of China for his outstanding contributions to Chinese-themed book publishing as well as Sino-Albanian cultural exchanges.

The Special Book Award of China, hosted by the National Press and Publication Administration, is the highest award in China's publishing industry for overseas, which mainly recognizes foreign and overseas writers, translators and publishers who have made outstanding contributions to the introduction of contemporary China to the overseas world, the promotion of Chinese publications and related cultural products, as well as the promotion of exchanges and mutual understanding between Chinese and foreign civilizations.

Established in 2005, the award has been presented for sixteen sessions, honoring 188 recipients from 62 countries. This year's awards recognized 15 recipients from 12 countries, including 4 publishers.

Petrit Ymeri is the Chairman of the Albanian Publishers Association and a renowned publisher. In 2015, representing the Albanian Publishers Association, Ymeri signed a cooperation agreement with the former State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television for the " Sino-Albanian Classics Mutual Translation and Publishing Project". FLTRP, as the Chinese organizer of the project, together with Ymeri and other Albanian publishers, sinologists, as well as experts and translators from both China and Albania, jointly promoted this project to become the largest-scale cooperation in the publishing fields of China and Albania. Currently, 26 books have been published under the Sino-Albanian Mutual Translation Program, including 20 Chinese-to-Albanian translations and 6 Albanian-to-Chinese translations. Among them, Knowledge Publishing House, under Ymeri's presidency, has introduced several outstanding Chinese books to Albania, such as "Chinese Traditional Culture" " Call to Arms" "Camel Xiangzi," "Dream of the Red Chamber," and "Globalization and Cultural Consciousness." As Chairman of the Albanian Publishers Association, Ymeri actively promotes and participates in the publication of Chinese books in Albania, playing a significant role in enhancing Albanians' understanding of China through reading and promoting Chinese culture in Albania.

Ymeri expressed that receiving the Special Book Award of China is a special honor, and a great encouragement for his many years of efforts in publishing and promoting Chinese books in Albania. He will continue to strive to translate and publish more outstanding Chinese books, enabling Albanian readers to understand both traditional and modern Chinese culture, and promoting cultural exchanges and mutual understanding between the two countries.