Zhou Xun, China's top-class actress, was declared Thursday winner of this year's UNEP Champions of the Earth award for her strong focus on promoting green life style and environmental sustainability.

Zhou Xun(left 4), was declared Thursday winner of this year's UNEP Champions of the Earth award.

"(Zhou's) well publicized statements, advice and life-style choices are influencing millions of fans to become more environmentally-conscious citizens and consumers," Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and UN Environment Program (UNEP) Executive Director, said in a press release.

Zhou is the second Chinese to win the award along with five other international environmental activists from Afghanistan, Guyana, the United States, Japan and the Maldives.

The awards, first established in 1994, recognize achievements in areas of Entrepreneurial Vision, Policy and Leadership, Science and Innovation, Inspiration and Action and Biodiversity and Ecosystems Management.

Zhou won the prize under the Inspiration and Action category.

The awards were presented as part of the 4th annual Business for Environment (B4E) Global Summit in Seoul drawing leaders from governments, NGOs and businesses around the globe.

The summit aims at strengthening dialogue and business-led action to push for low carbon green economy.

The summit is scheduled to end on Friday.