Two expats working for Shenzhen-based companies are among 100 foreign experts from 25 countries who on Monday received China Friendship Awards, the highest honor for recognizing a foreigner’s contributions to the country, according to the Shenzhen Foreign Experts Affairs Administration.

They were recognized nationally as driving forces in economic and social development.

Arno Felix Roehringer from Germany is chief operating officer of Shenzhen BYD Daimler New Technology Co. Ltd., the first joint venture in China solely dedicated to new-energy vehicles. He has been in the auto development field for over 30 years and owns 41 patents. Roehringer took charge of the joint venture’s operations in 2010. The company released DENZA, an electric vehicle tailored for Chinese customers, this April.

Gregory D. Gibb from the U.S. served as a deputy general manager for Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. Ltd. before becoming chairman of LUFAX, a Ping An subsidiary.

Gibb has 27 years of experience in finance in Asia and built an online platform for LUFAX to attract more credit assets, trust products and wealth management product transactions. In two years, online platform transactions reached 40 billion yuan (US$6.4 billion), and nearly 500 enterprises and financial institutions received online financial services.

To be eligible for the award, one must be a foreign expert who has made significant contributions to China. Eighteen expats working in Shenzhen have received the honor since 1991, when the awards were first given, out of 1,399 foreign experts who have been honored nationwide.