2016年CRI Chinese Writer Cao Wenxuan Leaves for New Zealand to Receive Award（在线收听）

Chinese writer Cao Wenxuan, who won the 2016 Hans Christian Andersen Prize, has left China for New Zealand to receive the award in recognition of his outstanding contribution to children's literature.

The award granting ceremony is scheduled to take place on August 20.

That's according to a press conference held by the China Children's Press and Publication Group, a provider of classic and contemporary children's publications.

Jin Bo, a famous Chinese writer who was nominated for the Hans Christian Andersen Prize in 1992, has attended the event.

"Cao Wenxuan sets a high standard for his writing. With a clear goal in his mind, Cao wants to show the reality in Chinese society with sympathetic perspectives. I think his receiving of this award should kick off a new start to all those involved in Chinese children's literature. They should be inspired to work harder to achieve a new height."

Peking University professor Cao Wenxuan has become the first ever Chinese author to win the Hans Christian Andersen Awards at the Bologna Children's Book Fair in Italy on April 4.

The Hans Christian Andersen Awards are biennial awards given by the International Board on Books for Young People to one living author and one living illustrator "whose complete works have made a lasting contribution to children's literature". 

Professor Cao Wenxuan and German illustrator Rotraut Susanne Berner share this year's award.

Considered the most prestigious recognition in the field, the Hans Christian Andersen Prize is also nicknamed the "Little Nobel Prize for Literature".