This undated photo shows Ezra Vogel, emeritus professor at the Asia Center of Harvard University. (REN QI / CHINA DAILY)

WASHINGTON/BEIJING - China expressed deep condolences over the passing of renowned sinologist Professor Ezra Vogel and sends sincere sympathies to his family, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Monday.

Ezra Vogel, professor emeritus at Harvard University and a renowned China scholar, passed away at the age of 90 in a hospital in Massachusetts on Sunday.

Throughout his lifetime he was dedicated to greater mutual understanding between the Chinese and American people and made significant contributions to their friendship and China-US relations.

Cui Tiankai, Chinese ambassador to the US

"Professor Ezra Vogel was a renowned US expert on China and an old friend of the Chinese people," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a press briefing, adding that Professor Vogel had made unremitting efforts to promote communication and exchanges between China and the United States, and to enhance mutual understanding between the two peoples.

"We will remember Professor Vogel's contribution to the development of China-US relations," said Wang. 

Chinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai also extended his deepest condolences to Vogel's family.

"Throughout his lifetime he was dedicated to greater mutual understanding between the Chinese and American people and made significant contributions to their friendship and China-US relations," said Cui. "His wisdom and insight on China have been of immeasurable value not only to people in the field of study, but also to the world."

The Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard University also expressed deep condolences over Vogel's passing.

"It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our former director Ezra Vogel (1930-2020)," the center said on Twitter. "He was a true champion of our center, an erudite scholar, and a wonderful friend. He will be truly missed."

The passing of Vogel is "a huge blow to the field, especially at this critical time, because Ezra was a major supporter of the effort to inject greater sanity and balance into US thinking about China," tweeted Michael Swaine, director of the East Asia Program at Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.

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In an online event this October, Vogel suggested the United States have high-level talks, intellectual exchanges, and economic cooperation with China.

"Competitors can talk as competitors, but it doesn't have to be enemies. It can be competitors; it can be suspicious. But, it can be under some kind of control," he noted.

Vogel once lived in south China's Guangdong province for a total of one year, and has visited China every year since the late 1980s.

He spent ten years studying China's former leader Deng Xiaoping and wrote a book titled Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China. Published in 2011, the over 900-page tome has provided a window for Westerners to gain a better understanding of modern China.

In an interview with Xinhua in November 2019, Vogel acknowledged that Sino-US relations were tense, but added that he believed both Chinese and US officials should work together to pursue their common interests.

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"There is a real danger of serious frictions," and it is very important for all who care about good relations with China to do what they can to improve them, Vogel said, stressing that a stable, constructive relationship is vital to both the world's two largest economies and the rest of the world.