Two foreigners to be awarded honorary citizen status

Shanghai’s legislature has approved the government’s proposal to grant honorary citizenship to two foreigners.

Larry Chan, chairman of Liwayway China Co, and David Preston, chief executive of Boehringer Ingelheim China, will receive their honors at a ceremony on Saturday.

Chan, a 44-year-old Filipino, came to the city in 1996. Under his leadership, Liwayway established 16 factories across China, with more than 8,700 workers.

He has actively participated in the Belt and Road initiative, expanding the company’s business to South Africa, and supporting the development of Shanghai’s free trade zone.

Preston, a South African, 60, came to China in 1992 as a co-founder of Xi’an Janssen. He settled down in Shanghai in 1997. Under his leadership, Boehringer has been honored as a top 10 taxpayer among industrial enterprises and as an outstanding contributor to the establishment of the Shanghai Zhangjiang high-tech industrial development zone.

With his efforts, stroke prevention medicine Pradaxa and Linagliptin tablets, medicine for diabetes, debuted in China as world leading drugs.