Film and TV star Yao Chen (right) attends the launch of the 2015 Amazing China mobile phone photo contest in Beijing on Aug 10. Zhu Xingxin / China Daily

The 2015 Amazing China mobile phone contest was launched on Aug 10 in Beijing, as part of the China-UK Year of Cultural Exchange, with the aim of promoting mutual understanding by encouraging tourists to discover the the beauty of China.

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

Kang Bing, deputy editor-in-chief of China Daily and chairman of the contest organizing committee, said photos are an efficient way to express feeling and tell stories.

"China Daily has been a major platform for 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," Kang said.

The contest will choose winners from six categories: landscape, architecture, human interest, food, family and on the road. Kang said the contest aims to discover a fresh China through photos taken by overseas participants, and seeks to eliminate international misunderstandings about the country.

Wu Xiaobo, financial writer and contest jury member, said the world needs to renew its understanding of China, given its great changes in the past 30 years.

"It means a lot for the public to exchange their understanding and feelings about China through cellphone photos," Wu said.

Other jury members include Wang Wenlan, deputy chairman of the 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, chief public relations officer of Geely Auto.

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

Michael Bates, who is a British government minister and a special guest of the contest, will send pictures from his 1,609 kilometer charity walk from Beijing to Nanjing.

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

Yao Chen, a Chinese actress and ambassador of the contest, also attended the launch ceremony. With 78 million followers on her twitter-like Weibo account, Yao is expected to draw tremendous attention to the photo contest.

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

The submission of entries started on Aug 11 and ends on Sept 12. The results of the competition will be published in October.

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 new Geely car for a year. The silver award is a 10-day tour package to China for two, provided by leading China travel specialist Wendy Wu Tours in the UK.

This is the first China-UK Year of Cultural Exchange, the largest-ever platform for cultural exchanges between the two nations. During Premier Li Keqiang's visit to the UK in June last year, the two countries agreed to set 2015 as the Year of Cultural Exchange, with the first half being a "UK season" in China and the second half a "China season" in the UK.

Gao Jian, deputy director of the British Studies Center at Shanghai International Studies University, says the year of Cultural Exchange highlights the importance of culture, given there are still misunderstandings.

"Cultural mutual understanding would lay a very consolidated foundation for the future of China and UK bilateral relations," Gao says.

Contact the writers at suzhou@chinadaily.com.cn and machi@chinadaily.com.cn.