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Wu Liangyong, an internationally renowned Chinese professor of architecture, was honored with the Prince Claus Award from the Netherlands in Beijing Thursday. Wu, a professor of the Civil Engineering Institute of the prestigious Tsinghua University and also an academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering, received the award from representatives of the Prince Claus Award Foundation in the Dutch embassy. "I was greatly honored," said 80-year-old Wu. The Prince Claus Award is a prestigious cultural award in the Netherlands and most of its winners have been individuals or organizations who have made outstanding contributions to cultural and artistic development, especially in underdeveloped regions like Africa, Asia and Latin America. The award foundation found that as a veteran architect long involved in designs and city planning, Wu had helped the people to realize the importance of combining tradition with modernity, contributed greatly to the protection of traditional architecture, and inspired many modern architects in China. A native of east China's Jiangsu Province, Wu graduated from the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering of National Central University in Chongqing, 1944. Wu was elected president of Chinese Urban Planning Society in 1993 and had also served as vice-chairman of the International Union of Architects. He was in charge of the drafting of the famous Beijing Charter which was adopted at the 20th World Congress of Architects in 1999.