Wang Wenlan, Lord Michael Bates, Kang Bing, Yao Chen and Yang Xueliang (from left to right) attend the launch ceremony of 2015 Amazing China Photo Contest in Beijing on Monday. [Photo by Mao Yanzheng/China Daily]

As part of the China-UK Year of Cultural Exchange, Geely Cup 2015 Amazing China mobile phone photo contest was launched on Monday in Beijing, with a view to showing the beauty of China to the world through the lens of a mobile phone.

The contest is open to participants from around the world. It is organized by China Daily, supported by the cultural branch of Chinese Embassy in Britain and curated by Chinalink London. Geely, China's international auto manufacturing company, is the contest's leading sponsor.

At the launch ceremony of Amazing China 2015, Kang Bing, deputy editor-in-chief of China Daily and chairman of the contest organizing committee, said China Daily has been a major platform showcasing China's development and changes to the world, and the contest will be a new platform for mobile phone users, especially those from China and the UK, to capture and show the beauty of China to the world.

Jury members of the contest include Wang Wenlan, deputy chairman of China Photography Association, Michael Pritchard, director general of the British Royal Photographic Society, Colin Sheaf, head of Asian art at Bonhams Auctions, and Yang Xueliang, Public Relation Director of Geely.

Speaking of the contest, Yang said that Geely hopes that the contest will help more people to appreciate the beautiful scenery, its people and culture in China.

As a special guest of the activity, Lord Michael Bates, who is a British Home Office Minister, will send the photos he takes during a 1,000 miles charity walk from Beijing to Nanjing to the photo contest. Walk for Peace, Lord Bates' long distance walking journey, is aimed at raising funds for Red Cross China.

His photos, along with those taken by some 30 celebrities from Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan, will be auctioned for charity.

Yao Chen, a famous Chinese actress and the ambassador of the contest, also attended the launch ceremony. Also known as the so-called "queen of Weibo", with 78 million followers on her twitter-like Weibo account, Yao is expected to bring the tremendous attention to the photo contest.

She said that the contest will be a bridge connecting China and the rest of the world.

The submission of entries will start from Aug 11 and end on Sept 12, with the results of the competition to be published in October.

The gold and silver award-winning photos from six categories including Landscape, Architecture, Human Interests, Food, Family and On the Road will be exhibited in China and the UK, and the winning photographers will be invited to the UK to attend the award ceremony in November, with the gold award winners given the right to use a Geely Borui, new flagship model of the auto company, for a year. The silver award is a 10-day tour package to China for two, provided by Wendy Wu Tours, a leading China and South East Asia specialist travel agency.

The website for this contest is www.amazingchina.uk. One can also log on www.chinadaily.com.cn/amazingchina.html and http://news.qq.com/photos.html for information of the contest.