The coastal city of Qingdao, Shandong province, along with Japan's Niigata and South Korea's Cheongju, was designated as a "2015 Culture City of East Asia" by the jury panel from China's Culture Ministry in Beijing recently.

As part of a joint activity by China, Japan and South Korea, the "Culture City of East Asia" program was first proposed by the cultural ministers of the three countries during the third ministerial conference in Nara of Japan in January 2011. It aims to promote cultural diversity in East Asia and enhance mutual understanding among the three East Asian countries.

A slew of cultural exchange programs, such as the three countries' cultural performances and exhibitions, to be held in 2015 in Qingdao will attract numerous visitors from home and abroad, especially from East Asian countries.

The cultural ministers of the three countries will present the prizes to the three cities during the sixth trilateral Ministerial Conference on Culture held in Japan’s Yokohama at the end of this year.