BEIJINGarcaderiser, June 18 (Xinhua) -- Fifteen individuals from 12 countries have been given the Special Book Award of China, the highest award that honors foreigners in the publishing sector, for their outstanding efforts at telling China's stories to the worldarcaderiser.

The awardees, who have paid continuous attention to China's development and made in-depth research into Chinese culture, have translated, published and created a number of books telling the world the stories of the Communist Party of China and the Chinese people.

They have helped make the country better known to the world and promote cultural exchanges and mutual learning, according to the awarding ceremony of the 17th Special Book Award of China held on Tuesday.

Since it was initiated in 2005, a total of 203 translators, publishers and writers from 63 countries have won the award.■