China expresses condolences over I. M. Pei's death: MFA

"We express our condolences on the death of I. M. Pei and our sincere solicitude to the family of Mr. Pei," Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Lu Kang said Friday at a routine press briefing.

The world-renowned Chinese American architect Leoh Ming Pei, better known as I.M. Pei, died at the age of 102 on Thursday.

Lu stressed that Pei made important contributions in promoting mutual understanding between Chinese and Americans, and exchanges between eastern and western cultures.

Born in China in 1917,Pei, the son of a banker, went to the US when he was 17 years old to study architecture. He was later accepted into Harvard University's Graduate School of Design, where he received a masters degree in architecture in 1946.

Since the 1940s, he has been the mastermind behind a variety of famous buildings including the glass pyramid at The Louvre in Paris, the Bank of China skyscraper in Hong Kong, and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Library in Boston, to name just a few. (People's Daily app - Xinhua)

中国外交部：对贝聿铭逝世表示哀悼

5月16日，华人建筑师贝聿铭去世，享年102岁。

中国外交部发言人陆慷17日在例行记者会上表达了中方对美籍华裔建筑设计师贝聿铭逝世的哀悼。

陆慷表示，贝聿铭先生长期以来为促进中美两国人民的相互了解和东西方文化的交流互鉴做出了重要贡献。“我们对贝聿铭先生逝世表示哀悼，向贝聿铭先生的家人表示诚挚慰问。”他说。

贝聿铭1917年出生于中国广州。他17岁高中毕业后赴美攻读建筑专业。之后，他就读于哈佛大学设计研究生院，并于1946年获得建筑学硕士学位。

70多年来，这位建筑界的华裔奇才为世界带来了各种精彩绝伦的作品。包括卢浮宫的玻璃金字塔、香港中国银行大厦和肯尼迪图书馆等。