The award was presented to Simonic at a ceremony in Beijing on Wednesday.
The award is conferred as part of the celebrations for the National Day of the People's Republic of China (October 1). This year, the award was presented by Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang. The ceremony was also attended by President Xi Jinping and other top Chinese officials.
Ante Simonic is a professor emeritus at the Medical School at the University of Rijeka. He has published about 300 scientific and technical publications, some of which are cited in leading international journals and 7 books. He was a member of the Croatian parliament in the 1990s and Deputy Prime Minister for science, education, culture, social issues and sports.
Simonic received the Chinese award for his contribution to education, medicine, culture, sports as well as for his humanitarian work and strengthening of ties between Croatia and China, the Chinese government said.
The Friendship Award was first established in 1950s, when it was awarded to experts from the former Soviet Union and East European countries by the then premier Zhou Enlai and the foreign minister Chen Yi.
The award was abolished with the Sino-Soviet split in the early 1960s. After the reopening of China, a new Friendship Award was reintroduced in 1991. Since then, the winners have been selected by the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs (SAFEA) under the State Council.