This capital city of south China's Guangdong Province has been conferred the permanent right to host the "Golden Bell Prize", the country's first comprehensive music art prize, said a senior cultural official in Guangzhou.
The municipal cultural department will sign an official agreement with the Chinese Musician's Association (CMA) and the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles (CFLAC) this November conferring the permanent right to host the contest, said Li Zhefu, an senior official with the municipal cultural department.
Guangzhou will invest millions of yuan as initial funds to finance the event, said the official, adding that the prize awarding ceremony will be held in the Xinghai Concert Hall and the Guangzhou Opera House, which is planned to be built.
The concrete affairs concerning the prize event will be undertaken by a powerful cultural dissemination company, the official said.
The Golden Bell Prize, co-sponsored by the CMA and CFLAC, is a State-level prize on the same par with the "Golden Rooster Prize" for films and the "Golden Eagle Prize" for TV serials.
The first such prize was awarded in 2001, with the award for first-class symphonic musical works topping 100,000 yuan (US$12,048).
(Xinhua News Agency April 2, 2003)
