Italian Ambassador Sequi confers Xiaotian Fu her knighthood, June 12 2017.
Churchill alumna, Ms Fu Xiaotian (G06), was awarded the Order of the Star of Italy at the Italian Embassy in Beijing on 12 June 2017.
This prestigious award was given for her work with senior political figures and her promotion of strong links between Italy and China. Italian Ambassador Ettore Sequi conferred the Knighthood with around one hundred guests present.
Xiaotian has built a successful media career in China encouraging international cooperation and engagement as host of the Phoenix Television programme Talk with World Leaders — featuring interviews with world political leaders, which has an audience of over 200 million people.
The Knighthood recognises Xiaotian’s close relationship with the Italian Embassy having conducted many interviews with Italian politicians and dignitories visiting China, including: the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella; the Italian Prime Minister (and former Foreign Minister), Paolo Gentiloni; and the Minister of Culture, Dario Franceschini.
The Order of the Star of Italy is reformed from the Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity recognises individuals whose work promotes national prestige and friendly relations and co-operation with other countries and ties with Italy.
Xiaotian graduated with an MPhil degree in Education in 2007 and joined Phoenix Satellite Television as a TV journalist in 2008. She travelled to both Libya and Syria as a wartime reporter in 2011 and 2015 before becoming the host of Talk with World Leaders.
