Alex Cruau, the consulate general of France bestows the award to Budi Tek. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Attendees include artists and the museum's patrons, including Ding Yi, Fang Lijun and Xu Zhen.

The Legion of Honor－instituted by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802－is France's highest honor for military and civil achievements. It is given primarily to French citizens, but sometimes presented to foreigners.

Previous Chinese recipients are the Chinese-American architect I. M. Pei; Ba Jin (1904-2005), one of the country's literary giants; and business magnate Ma Yun, or Jack Ma.

Tek, who accumulated his wealth from his agriculture business, started to collect works with a focus on contemporary Chinese art about a decade ago.

He has also contributed to Sino-French cultural links since 2011. He loans his Chinese art to French institutions, such as the Pompidou Centre.

His Yuz Foundation, which runs the Yuz Museum, sponsored Chinese artist Zeng Fanzhi's solo exhibition in Paris in 2013.

Last year, a retrospective of Swiss master Alberto Giacometti in China was held at the museum, in collaboration with the Paris-based Giacometti Foundation.

Tek calls himself a "matchmaker", who introduced Pompidou to the State-owned West Bund Group.