China Daily makes history by winning 14 prizes at Hong Kong News Awards

China Daily Hong Kong Edition took home a record-breaking number of 14 prizes over a record-setting 11 categories at the city's annual news award competition presented by the Newspaper Society of Hong Kong, including a first-time winner for Best Young Reporter.

The results positioned China Daily Hong Kong as the highest winner in the overall awards tally among the 12 newspaper outlets that participated in the competition. China Daily Hong Kong was ranked second in terms of the number of top awards. The awards were chosen among 594 entries from most Chinese and English newspapers in the city.

Since 2003, China Daily has, in total, earned 72 prizes in the Hong Kong News Awards, making it a consistent winner in the city's prestigious annual news contest.

The awards given to China Daily Hong Kong spanned 11 different categories – the highest in history -- and included four top awards in Best Headline, Best Science News Reporting, Best Arts and Culture News Reporting and Best Young Reporter. This is also China Daily Hong Kong's second time winning four top awards, a record set in 2017.

The breakthrough in Best Young Reporter was made by Dara Wang, 24, who managed to scoop first prize in the category. It is also her first award since entering the news industry.

Many of this year's winners at China Daily Hong Kong also received last year's awards with their best works. China Daily Hong Kong's seasoned editor Robert Ireland excelled by clinching his ninth award in Best Headline. This year, he claimed first place in the category with the headline "Misguided tours", a story centered on exposing problems caused by cut-rate tour operators in the city.

For a consecutive year, Chitralekha Basu, deputy news editor (Arts and Culture) at China Daily Hong Kong, swept first prize in Best Arts and Culture News Reporting. The five-part Design Network series explores how Hong Kong could re-establish itself as one of the premier design destinations of the world and how the city's evolving design industry is preparing to cope with the coming Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Honey Tsang, a reporter from the news desk, won the top prize in Best Science News Reporting category with her "Global Warning" series report, giving details on how the reality of global warming has quietly harmed our health and the planet.

Reporter Wang Yuke won two second Runner-up awards -- one in Best Arts and Culture News Reporting with her series on the lives of ethnic minorities, and another in Best News Writing with her gentle touch on ex-inmates' efforts to rejoin society.

Veteran photographer Roy Liu scored a hat-trick for a consecutive year by winning three awards in all three photo categories. He won first Runner-up in Best Photography (Sports), Merit Award in Best Photography (Features) and Merit Award in Best Photography (News).

Another regular winner at the awards was the pair of graphic designers Billy Wong and Mok Kwok-cheong, who received first Runner-up in the Best News Page Design (Series) category for their "Design Network" pages.

China Daily Hong Kong's business team also won three news awards this year, one more over last year. Also winners during the previous year, Zhou Mo was given first Runner-up in Business News Writing, and Luo Weiteng and Chai Hua were jointly awarded second Runner-up in Business News Reporting for their combined series on the retail revolution this year.

Veteran business reporter Oswald Chan won the Merit Award in the Best Business News Reporting category. His "Smart City" series covered the steps the SAR government took to promote smart city development.