Xue Haitao (third from left) shakes hands with Alimov Rashid, the outgoing secretary-general of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization as Xue's portrait of Rashid is presented. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The year 2018 means a lot to Chinese artist Xue Haitao, who gained praise from home and abroad after 30 years of accumulation.

Xue, the Germany-China Ambassador for Cultural Exchange, created portraits for the German president, the president of South Africa and the secretary-general of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in the past year. Also, he attended the exhibition celebrating the 66th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Pakistan as the only Chinese representative.

Xue Haitao is seen with one of his works at the Harmony in Diversity Painting and Calligraphy Exhibition held in Beijing in August 2018.[Photo/gs.chinanews.com]

Xue, now the Chinese national first-class artist of traditional Chinese painting, was born into a family in Northwest China's Gansu province that has a long tradition in Chinese calligraphy and painting.

The now 48-year-old began his journey in 1990s restoring the millennium-old mural paintings of the Dunhuang Grottoes in Gansu. Xue never thought when the job began that it could last almost 12 years.

Books in the reading room were badly worn and the biggest entertainment was an occasional poker game, Xue recalled.