On September 4th, 40 expatriates were awarded the Magnolia Silver Award by Shanghai city government for their outstanding contributions to Shanghai's economic and social development. Awardees were handed the prestigious award by Li Mingjun, director of the Shanghai Foreign Affairs Office who thanked them for their positive input to the development of Shanghai.

Professor Ralf Altmeyer, Director General and the Head of the Laboratory of Anti-Infective Research at Institut Pasteur of Shanghai - Chinese Academy of Science, was among this year’s beneficiaries of the award. Ralf Altmeyer, who is a virologist, specialized in drug discovery for pediatric infectious diseases has a background in both academic and corporate research and development. He was recently invited to make proposals on innovation to president Xi Jinping during a foreign expert meeting in May 2014 in Shanghai.