Organizers of a short video competition highlighting the strengths of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area launched their campus tour in the city on Monday at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. 

Themed "A new era for the GBA: United towards the future", the 2nd Shining GBA Short Video Competition encourages participants to create short videos that offer thoughtful insights about the GBA and employ captivating narrative techniques.

The organizers include the Administrative Service Bureau of China's National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA), Radio and Television Administration of Guangdong Province, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and FengShows (Phoenix TV).

"In the Party's 20th National Congress, President Xi Jinping stressed the importance of enhancing international communication capacities in line with the country's development and status. He also emphasized promoting Chinese culture worldwide through mutual learning among civilizations," Zhang Yanli, deputy director of the New Viewpoint Center of NRTA, editor-in-chief of DocuChina TV, said during an interview with China Daily.

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"President Xi's instruction brings new vitality to China's documentary and content creation. I believe creators should pay attention to the expression of works that resonate internationally, to collaborative ways of producing and broadcasting, and to the charm of Chinese culture,” he said. 

Zhang said their planning and innovation in the creative process "should aim to connect with the world audience by telling great stories about China".

"GBA's diverse cultures and rich history are a treasure trove for content creation. The Lingnan culture, the entrepreneurship of young people in the new era, reflects a profound historical heritage and the pulse of the times," Zhang said. "We should remain people-centered by producing content that showcases those real, vivid, and touching moments."

He said the GBA's economic development and technology innovation are also highlights in terms of topic selection, adding that they facilitate social development as well as improve people's lives.

GBA youth

According to a survey in 2019, GBA youth possess many distinctive qualities, including an enterprising attitude, a broad vision, confidence, optimism, and are good at innovation.

"GBA youth will be future contributors to the society. We hope they will stand firm in the bay area and shine their own light," said Yang Chenghu, deputy dean of the School of Arts & Communication at Beijing Normal University.

"The establishment of the FengShows platform is to decentralize content creation, to encourage young creators from diverse backgrounds to contribute with their creativity," said Huang Haibo, director of the editing department at Phoenix TV.

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Yu Xiaoyang, a Beijing Normal University student representative and one of the winners in last year's competition, told China Daily that the event was a great opportunity to be part of a diverse and open platform, where he met many young creators from the GBA and learned new ideas and perspectives.

"In terms of career development, my competitiveness within the industry was enhanced, and the experience becomes a highlight on my resume," he added.

Wang Kehan, a tourism management student from Hong Kong Polytechnic University, said that she will apply her professional knowledge to content creation in order to introduce the GBA to diverse communities.

Talking about content outreach, Chen Bo, a student representative of Macau University of Science and Technology, said that quality content should uphold the core values of Chinese traditional culture while staying closely connected with trending topics in society.

Launched in 2023, the first session of the competition, themed "Embarking on a new journey: Chasing the dream of the GBA", received 2,319 submissions.

Among them, 80 videos were selected for broadcast on major platforms, including People's Daily, Xuexi.cn, CCTV, and Doc China, as well as on social media platforms such as TikTok, iQIYI, and Youku, according to event organizers.

Contact the writer at irismuk@chinadailyhk.com