'My Story of Chinese Culture' international short video competition award ceremony held

The award ceremony of "My Story of Chinese Culture" international short video competition and related activities were held in Jining, China's Shandong province, the hometown of Confucius and Mencius, on Wednesday.

The event was organized by China International Communications Group (CICG) and the Information Office of the People's Government of Shandong Province, and jointly hosted by the Jining Municipal People's Government and Xufang International Digital Culture Media under CICG. It included sections such as the exhibition of award-winning works, the award ceremony, and a theme tour. About 150 people participated, including representatives of partner institutions, award-winning teams, local governments, and cooperation platforms, as well as expert judges.

Gao Anming, vice president and editor-in-chief of CICG, said at the award ceremony that the competition has received a number of excellent videos with distinct characteristics of Chinese culture centering on topics like Chinese traditions, intangible cultural heritage, urban cultural tourism, and food and leisure, and these videos give new, vibrant expression to traditional Chinese culture.

Sun Yingzhuo, deputy director of the Information Office of the People's Government of Shandong Province, said that centering around the idea of sharing Chinese culture with audiences abroad, the competition vividly displayed the beauty of both China and Shandong province through the camera. The competition effectively expanded the influence of Confucianism in the exchange and mutual learning of world civilizations.

At the award ceremony, many foreign vloggers shared their own stories. Park Daeil, a vlogger from South Korea, said that China has a variety of food, rich culture, and beautiful scenery, with a lot of content worth telling and exploring. The competition provides an exchange platform for foreign vloggers, and gives the world more opportunities to understand China.

Jack Klumpp, the American host of the series "I am in China" of Xufang International Digital Culture Media, said that the Confucian cultural heritage behind the Confucius Temple is fascinating and inspires many foreigners to dig deeper into Chinese culture. Filming "I am in China," he has experienced many different facets of Chinese culture and the influence it has on the lives of the people here.

Initiated by CICG four years ago, the competition has become a well-known international communication event integrating multilingual short video creation, topic-of-the-year competition, special topic competition, new media international communication seminar, and theme exhibition. It aims to build the most recognized brand for "China in the lens of foreigners," create the most inclusive exchange platform for global creators, and facilitate the widest collaboration among creators and platforms.

This year, a total of 8,194 short videos from more than 40 countries on five continents had been submitted to the competition. After three rounds of evaluation by seven professional judges in the fields of Chinese and international film and television, and international communication and the internet, 40 award-winning works were selected. These works depict the inheritance and development of Chinese culture from a third-party perspective and show the unique charm of Chinese culture to the world.