Winners announced in global short video contest

An awards ceremony for a global short video contest was held on Wednesday in Beijing.

The contest, @China, had over 430,000 short videos from 60 countries, including China and countries from North America, Europe, Africa, Oceania and the rest of Asia. The contest was launched on June 17.

The contest was supervised by the State Council Information Office and sponsored by People's Daily.

It was held to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. The aim was to collect uplifting stories of individuals' interactions with China that display the achievements of reform and development in the new era.

After three rounds of review and taking online voting results into consideration, three videos shared the first prize: What do you think of China? by Adam Mcllmoyle of the United Kingdom, My Home by Jeff Paul Clark of the United States and 70 years in China by Michael Crook of the UK. Five videos shared second prize, and 15 videos shared third prize.

Guo Weimin, deputy director of the State Council Information Office, said the contest is a gift for China's 70th birthday.

"Through these videos, we feel the rapid development of China in the past 70 years, feel a beautiful China and feel the warmth and hospitality of the Chinese people and the deep affection toward China from foreign friends," Guo said.

Participants submitted their works through the contest's website and platforms such as Kuaishou, Douyin, and Pear video, and also through channels such as China Media Group and China News Service.

Kyle Obermann, a professional cameraman from the United States, was included in the second prize for his video China and I. He came to study at Peking University in 2014, but said he chose to move to his current home in Chengdu because he loves Sichuan province's food.

Obermann has visited half of China's provinces, which he said has greatly changed his impression of the nation.

"I have visited many villages and areas under environmental protection. I used to think that China's environment would not be very good, but now I think China has one of the best natural environments in the world," he said.

"There are many people who are acting to protect their homeland, and there are so many stories to be told about them that I think I'll never finish," he said.