The first China International Press Photo Contest (CHIPP) will be held in March 2005 in the southern city of Shenzhen as the Chinese version of the Netherlands-based World Press Photo Contest, organizers said Saturday.

"The jury will be composed of 15 well-known experts from both China and overseas," said Yu Ning, director of CHIPP's organizing committee, at a press conference.

With "Peace and Development" as the theme, press photojournalists and photographers worldwide will be invited to participate in the event by submitting photos taken and published in 2004.

Participants will compete for 14 prizes in seven categories, and each category will include one gold award, two silver awards and three bronze awards. "Photo of the Year" will be selected from the gold-award-winning photos, and the photographer will be awarded 60,000 yuan (US$7,229) in cash and a return air ticket if the winner is a foreigner.

The prizewinning pictures will appear in a yearbook and will be exhibited under the auspices of the organizing committee.

The organizing committee delivered application forms to overseas journalists during the just-ended Athens Olympic Games and received a warm response, said Xu Zugen, chairman of the contest's jury and director of the photo department of Xinhua News Agency, China's biggest newswire.

The contest, organized by the Photojournalist Society of China, is expected to be an annual event from next year on.
 
(Xinhua News Agency September 6, 2004)