Pinoy journalist in China named Reuters reporter of the year

Benjamin Lim, a Filipino journalist based in China, was chosen by international wire agency Reuters as the Reporter of the Year for 2011.   In a news release, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Lim, Reuters' correspondent in China, is a member of the Beijing Press Corps.   "Mr. Lim has been consistently behind news breakthroughs on China. He was selected for his string of major scoops in 2011," the DFA said.   The major stories he was credited for included:  

• China's decision to clean up $1.710 trillion (RMB 10 trillion) in local government debt
• appointment of China's new banking, securities and insurance regulators
• Democratic People's Republic of Korea's military's pledge of allegiance to Kim Jong-un
• China's plan to build two indigenous aircraft carriers, and
• China's pledge to invest $1.5 trillion in seven new strategic industries.

  The DFA said this was the second time Lim received the Reuters' global annual journalism award for his outstanding reportage.   In 2007, he was awarded the Scoop of the Year for predicting the line up of the Communist Party's 17th Politburo Standing Committee, the top policy-making and political body in China.   He was previously bureau chief of Reuters in Beijing and Taipei. - VVP, GMA News