Winners of China's First International News Photograph Competition were put on show at the China Art Gallery in Beijing Thursday, with more than 500 newsmen and photographers attending.

The competition, with the theme of "peace and development", is aimed at strengthening communication between Chinese and foreign photographers and newsmen. The competition also demands candidates show their state-of-art skills to grasp moments with acuteness and from an objective perspective.

According to the organizer, the pictures on show were selected out of 21,627 pieces of works by 1,765 candidates from 76 countries and regions. The competition set up a total of 225 prizes, which gradually went to journalists and photographers from more than 20 countries and regions.

The jury committee was composed of 15 veteran experts and photographers, including seven from the Chinese mainland's mainstream media such as Xinhua News Agency, People's Daily, China Daily, etc, one from Hong Kong, and another seven from United States, France, the Netherlands, Japan, India and Chile.

The competition, from this year on, will be held annually. The second competition will be held in Shenzhen next spring.

(Xinhua News Agency July 1, 2005)