Kirchhoff was born 1948 in Hamburg, West Germany. He studied pedagogy and psychology at Frankfurt University from 1972 to 1979 and completed his doctoral thesis. He is an award-winning fiction writer and has also written movie screenplays. In 2016, Encounter won the German Book Prize.

Three other novels by writers from France, Italy and Argentina are winners of "Best Foreign Novel", the other awards category.

La Noche de la Usina, written by 51-year-old Argentinian novelist Eduardo Sacheri, is set in a fictional small town on the Pampas. Coaxed out of all their money to start a business, the residents had no choice but to plan an elaborate heist to take back what was rightfully theirs.

"The novel is entertaining, highly visual and heart-rending. I think smart, sensitive and curious Chinese readers will enjoy the book," says Huan Manuel Cortelletti, cultural attaché to the Embassy of Argentina in China, who accepted the award on the writer's behalf.

Nobel Prize-nominated Italian feminist writer Dacia Maraini, 72, narrated a missing-person investigation from a man's perspective in her work La Bambina e il Sognatore. The hero is a father who had just lost his 8-year-old daughter to leukemia. As he embarked on the journey to find a missing girl who resembled a girl in his dreams, his tragic past began to unravel.

In La Cheffe, Roman d'une Cuisiniere, French novelist and playwright Marie NDiaye, 51, portrayed a woman's rise to the peak of culinary art by hard work, dedication and talent. The story is narrated from the perspective of the heroine's sous-chef, a man.

The judging panel of the award, which consists of literature translators, scholars and publishing editors, considers new foreign novels each year based on metrics including literary value, social impact and significance to humanity, according to Xiao Liyuan, deputy chief editor of People's Literature Publishing house and member of the judging panel.

The award in recent years has been paying special attention to novels from the developing world, Xiao adds.

Since its commencement in 2001, the award has gone to 94 novels from 26 countries. Past winners of the award include French writers Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio and Patrick Modiano, who went on to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2008 and 2014 respectively.

All of the 94 novels are published in Chinese by People's Literature Publishing House under the series "21st Century Best Foreign Novel of the Year". The four winning novels this year are published in April.