Islamabad, Jan 3 (Xinhua) Pakistan Saturday conferred the prestigious civilian award Hilal-e-Quaid-e-Azam on the Chinese envoy here.

Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari gave the award to Chinese diplomat Luo Zhaohui at a ceremony held at the President's House Saturday.

'As Ambassador of China to Pakistan, Luo Zhaohui has contributed significantly to further enhancing and deepening of the relations between Pakistan and China,' a statement issued by the President's House said.

'He has exhibited profound commitment to consolidate the multi-faceted cooperative partnership between the two countries. He is a good friend of Pakistan. With his understanding of South Asian affairs, he was instrumental in promoting Pakistan-China relations,' it said.

For his services, he was earlier honoured with the Sitara-i-Quaid-i-Azam award in 2007.

Luo thanked the Pakistani government for conferring the prestigious award on him.