A grand gathering to celebrate the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up is held in Beijing, on Dec 18. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]

Celebrating the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up, 100 Chinese were awarded reform pioneer medals and 10 foreigners were honored with China reform friendship medals at a grand gathering in Beijing, on Dec 18.

Among these individuals, two outstanding entrepreneurs from Hangzhou, Zhejiang province were laureled for their contributions.

Lu Guanqiu, founder and former chairman of Wanxiang Group

Lu Guanqiu (1945-2017) was the iconic entrepreneur from Hangzhou who founded China's largest automotive parts company Wanxiang Group.

As one of the numerous Chinese companies that have gone abroad since China's reform and opening-up, Wanxiang started as an agriculture machinery repair factory in 1969, then turned its focus onto auto components production and sales. With an eye on the future, Lu led the company to expand its business abroad in line with China's reform and opening-up policies in 1994.

Today, the Hangzhou-based company is a major partner of leading carmakers including General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. It owns nearly 30 companies and over 40 factories in 10 foreign countries including the United States and Germany. 

Fan Jinshi, an archaeologist and honorary dean of Dunhuang Academy

If it had not been for Fan Jinshi and her team, the world cultural heritage at Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes in a remote Chinese desert might have long been destroyed by the elements.

Born in 1938, the 80-year-old Hangzhou native has spent half a century fighting an uphill battle to preserve the ancient Buddhist wall paintings at Dunhuang, in Northwest China's Gansu province.

She is lauded as a "daughter of Dunhuang" for her over 50 years of devotion to studying and preserving the 1,600-year-old Dunhuang Grottoes, which was China's first UNESCO World Heritage Site.