Australian FM congratulates China for winning Nobel Prize

The winning of the Nobel Prize for Literature by a Chinese writer is a big symbol of China's emergence, Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr said on Friday.

Writer Mo Yan on Thursday became the first Chinese author to be awarded the prize.

"I think, for the Chinese, that Nobel Prize ranks with getting a man in space and getting admitted to the World Trade Organization," Carr told Chinese media at Bondi Beach in Sydney on Friday.

"It's a big symbol of China's emergence," he said.

"My congratulations to all Chinese, my congratulations to the People's Republic of China."