The press conference for the eighth China International Press Photo Contest (CHIPP) was held today in Beijing.

Yu Ning, Chairman of the China Photojournalists Society and Chairman of the CHIPP Organization Committee, announces that the eighth CHIPP will be held in Hangzhou in March 2012, and he welcomes photojournalists and photographers all over the world to take part.

Yu Ning, Chairman of China Photojournalists Society and Chairman of the CHIPP Organization Committee

"Peace and Development" is the theme of CHIPP, a contest that has built itself up over the course of a few years into a benchmark that meets the world standard.

"CHIPP is not only a platform for excellent photojournalists works from around the world to compete in a fair manner, but also a window for Chinese photojournalism to present itself to the world and vice versa," Yu said. "It is a face-to-face communication opportunity for Chinese photographers and their foreign counterparts. CHIPP bridges the gap between photorealism in China and the world."

Zhu Shouchen, Secretary of the CPC Committee of All-China Journalists Association

Zhao Derun, executive chairman of the China Photojournalists Society, introduced the organizing committee and judging committee. He said participants are invited to compete in eight categories for one gold, one silver, one bronze award, as well as two awards of excellence.

There are awards for both singles and stories in each category. Above all, there will be one prime prize called the Picture of the Year selected with a 100,000 RMB bonus. The eight categories are:

Daily Life (DL & DLS)

War & Disaster News (WDN & WDNS)

General News (GN & GNS)

Economy, Science and Technology News (ESTN & ESTNS)

Nature & Environment News(NEN & NENS)

Arts, Culture & Entertainment News(ACEN & ACENS)

Sports News(SN & SNS)

Portraits & People in the News (POPN & POPNS)

The award ceremony and CHIPP forum will be held in Hangzhou in October 2012.