Former President Carter honored for improving US-China relations

ATLANTA (FOX 5 Atlanta) - Former President Jimmy Carter was honored in a big way for improving our relationship with China during his presidency.

He was the recipient of the inaugural George H.W. Bush Award for Statesmanship in US-China relations.

An award ceremony was held Wednesday night at the Carter Center in Atlanta.

President Carter's son Chip accepted the award on his father's behalf and spoke about the similarities in how former presidents Carter and Bush viewed the country’s relationship with China.

Officials with the Bush-China Foundation said President Carter was the organization's unanimous choice to be the first ever recipient of this award.