Master Qianze of Qixia Temple in Guilin, South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, was conferred the religious title of "Saddhamma Jokitadhaja" by Myanmar in honor of his outstanding missionary work in Buddhism in 2020.

U Myo Thant Pe, Myanmar's ambassador to China, conferred the badge of honor to Qianze on behalf of Win Myint, president of Myanmar, on Dec 10 to mark Qianze's contributions in promoting Buddhist cultural exchanges between China and Myanmar.

The ambassador said the religious title, "Saddhamma Jokitadhaja", is one of the highest honors issued by Myanmar's president.

He said Myanmar and China have enjoyed profound friendship for a long time and Buddhist monks from his country first visited China early in the 10th century.

"The Buddhist exchanges between two countries have played an important role in areas spanning cultural exchanges and nongovernmental contact," the ambassador added.

"Winning the title is more like an encouragement to me. We will carry out more exchanges and cooperation with Myanmar in areas such as religion, culture and education," Qianze said.

Qixia Temple, situated at the foot of Putuo Mountain, has a history of more than 1,300 years. The China-ASEAN Guilin Zen Cultural Exchange Center was unveiled in the temple in May 2019, and has conducted extensive communications with overseas cultural groups from countries such as Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Japan, South Korea and the Philippines.