BEIJING -- President Xi Jinping said on Sunday the Chinese people will never forget international friends who have made prominent contributions to China's development and the friendship between Chinese and foreign peoples.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks at a ceremony awarding the country's highest state honors ahead of the 75th founding anniversary of the People's Republic of China.

Xi lauded Dilma Rousseff, recipient of the Friendship Medal, as an outstanding representative of China's old friends and good friends who have shared the same aspirations and stood together with the Chinese people over the past 75 years.