Special Coverage: 2009 Conference on International Exchange of Professionals

Ten international personalities judged as being the most instrumental in China's development since the People's Republic's formation 60 years ago have been chosen by the State Administration of Foreign Expert Affairs.

American economist Robert A. Mundell and English news presenter Edwin Charles Maher from New Zealand were just two of the names that made the cut.

The final list was announced Saturday in south China's Shenzhen at the sidelines of the 2009 China Conference on International Exchange of Professionals.

A group of scholars and professionals from various Chinese media organizations, cultural and academic institutions, and commercial agencies chose ten names from 63 international candidates.

The majority of the candidates are specialists in science and education. But they also include economists and world leaders. The selection is part of the celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China.

The complete list of the top ten most influential international experts are:

1. Israel Epstein, a well-known journalist who devoted his life to the cause of introducing China to the rest of the world.

2. Ivan Arkhipov: an expert from the former Soviet Union who made a huge contribution to the implementation of China's first Five-Year Plan for national economy and social development.

3. Tsung-Dao Lee, a Chinese American physicist and a Nobel laureate who had promoted Sino-US cooperation in the field of high-energy physics.

4. Hara Shoichi, a Japanese rice expert who has come to China 63 times to promote his rice drought-raising thin-planting technique.

5. Werner Gerich, a German national, the first foreign factory director of New China, assumed the post of director at Wuhan Diesel Engine Plant from 1984 to 1986.

6. Joseph Needham, a British national who through his writing has radically changed the ways in which scholars and scientists evaluate both the history of Chinese culture, and the history of science medicine and technology in China.

7. Fok Chun Wan Ian, a philanthropist from Hong Kong who has helped train more than 3,000 teachers for mainland universities.

8. Robert A. Mundell, an American economist and a Nobel Laureate who has continued to research and support China's economic development.

9. Edwin Charles Maher, a national of New Zealand who has worked as a news presenter at CCTV, China's main television broadcaster.

10. Morihiko Hiramatsu, a Japanese politician who initiated the One Village One Product movement for regional development, which was promoted in China and helped many villages fight their way out of poverty.