Liu Xiaoming, Minister and Deputy Chief of the Chinese Mission in Washington, told a press conference that the TV series will be simultaneously broadcast on 17 television stations in 14 states across the United States.

It is the first event of such kind in this country to showcase China--a nation with both an ancient civilization of some 5000 years and a dynamic, vibrant society of rapid social and economic development, Liu said.

According to a news release, the first session of the TV program, to be held through the end of June, will highlight China' s 12 western provinces, cities and autonomous regions, including the provinces of Shaanxi, Gansu, Sichuan, Yunnan, Qinghai, Guizhou, and the autonomous regions of the Inner Mongolia, Tibet, Xinjiang, Guangxi, Ningxia, and Chongqing Municipality.

The 12 western provinces, cities and autonomous regions have become the focus of China's ambitious "Western Development Strategy," which called for greater openness of the region to the outside world as well as for increased investment both from abroad and the developed coastal areas in the country.

The series will first put on show 150 documentary episodes, totaling 25 hours, and the accumulative total broadcast time will be 175 hours, the news release said.

In conjunction with the TV series, the sponsors will also put out the Best Chinese TV Program Sweepstakes, in which audience can participate to select the best TV programs on China.

The "2001 Places of China" series is designed to promote the understanding and friendship between the American and Chinese people, the sponsors said in the news release.

"Both China and the United States are great countries. And it is important for our two countries and two peoples to know more about each other and to understand each other better," Liu Xiaoming said.

He praised America Time East Media Group for its efforts towards "bridging the gap between the two countries separated not only by vast distances of mountains and oceans, but also by some protracted differences of systems and values."

America Time East Media Group, which is based in north America and reaches out worldwide, will also trial launch "Beijing Times," a Chinese and English newspaper, on May 1 this year.

The media group, a multiple-business enterprise devoted to the promotion of cultural exchanges between the east the west, now owns eight subsidiary businesses in the United States, including radio, television, newspaper, magazine as well as Internet operations.

The media group, with partners coming from the United States, the United Kingdom, China and southeast Asia, representing almost 1000 television stations and media institutions, covers 65 percent of the world.

(Xinhua 03/06/2001)