Legal expert awarded nation's top law prize

Zhang Yonghe, a leading legal expert, was awarded the 2025 Li Buyun Law Prize on Wednesday. The honor, regarded as the "Nobel Prize of China's legal profession", was presented in Chongqing to mark the 77th Human Rights Day.

Zhang, executive director of the Human Rights Institute at Southwest University of Political Science and Law, was recognized for his outstanding contributions to human rights law, legal theory, sociology of law, and legal anthropology.

"Zhang has built a solid and expansive bridge between human rights theory and practice in China in recent years," Huang Wenyi, vice-chairman of the Li Buyun Law Prize Award Committee, said at the ceremony.

Under Zhang's leadership, the institute produced more than a dozen independent reports on China's human rights development, based on extensive field research in ethnic minority regions. Zhang has also been active in international human rights exchanges and global governance, submitting nearly 20 parallel reports and frequently speaking at the United Nations Human Rights Council.

The institute was designated a national human rights education and training base and a national high-end think tank cultivation unit in 2014. In 2022, the university established a Human Rights School, the first of its kind at a Chinese university.

Also unveiled on Wednesday were the Chinese and English editions of a new book edited by Zhang, Women in China's New Era, which presents the life stories of Chinese women within a human rights framework.

Li Buyun, born in 1933, is an honorary member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and a pioneer in the study of human rights in China. The Li Buyun Law Prize, initiated by the Shanghai Institute of Finance and Law, is awarded annually to one individual or organization for outstanding contributions to Chinese legal studies, international legal scholarship or legal education exchange.

"Over the past 77 years, China has forged a path of human rights development that aligns with its national conditions," said Fu Weigang, president of the Shanghai Institute of Finance and Law, at the ceremony. He cited milestones including defining people's happy life as the greatest human right, enshrining respect for and protection of human rights in the Constitution, building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and advancing comprehensive development of human rights.

"This recognition speaks to your integrity, your scholarship and your leadership at the Human Rights Institute of Southwest University of Political Science and Law," said Djibril Diallo, former spokesman for the president of the UN General Assembly, in a speech at the ceremony. "On a day when the world reflects on the dignity and rights of every human being, your work stands out as a reminder of how essential the rule of law is to protecting those rights."

Krisztina Karsai, a professor at the University of Szeged Law School in Hungary and chairperson of the Hungarian Branch of the International Association of Penal Law, said "Our conversation reaffirmed not only his intellectual depth and moral clarity, but also his strong commitment to strengthening academic ties between our institutions," she said. "This shared belief in international cooperation and mutual learning is one of the most meaningful dimensions of his work."

In addition to the award ceremony, the Peace, Development and Human Rights Forum commemorating the 80th anniversary of the promulgation of the UN Charter was held on the same day, drawing human rights scholars and experts from China and abroad.