China Daily Hong Kong achieved a record-breaking milestone at this year’s prestigious Hong Kong News Awards, securing 17 accolades spanning nine categories —its highest single-year tally to date, making it the biggest winner this year among its peers.

The awards, including five championships and seven first runners-up, bring the newspaper’s all-time total to 141. This follows 11 awards in 2024, eight in 2023, and 10 in 2022.

Shadow Li secured first place in the Best News Reporting category, with her story series of titled The Silver Lining. This three-part series delved into the lives of Hong Kong’s silver-haired generation and explores the growing trend of elderly individuals continuing to work past retirement age — a global phenomenon that Hong Kong exemplifies.

Titled “How secure are buildings past 50 years old”, William Xu's work, which talks about the potential risks of Hong Kong’s aging buildings, has won the merit award in the same category.

Among the winners for first-place awards, reporters Luo Weiteng and Atlas Shao won the Best Arts and Culture News Reporting for their co-crafted series on culture, featuring Chinese culture gaining momentum in younger generation and wider context. In the same category, Chitralekha Basu won a merit for her Silk Road Revisited series.

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Oasis Hu, who bagged Best Young Reporter in 2023, was awarded Best News Writing (English) for her story titled A Shelter in the Rain, depicting the difficulties of tackling online-image-based sexual violence and retelling the story of those who have fallen prey to the abuse.

Hu took home three awards this time, making her the biggest winner at China Daily. Her series Echoes of Cantonese Tradition in Digital Age clinched first runner-up at Best Arts and Culture News Reporting, while her Cyber Shadow series landed her first runner-up in the Best News Reporting category.

Hu believes that these honors belong to all those who boldly speak the truth and contribute to the advancement of society. She extended her gratitude to China Daily, and to the interviewees who generously cooperated, offering their time and energy.

“Journalism has sharpened my ability to think critically and enriched my understanding of daily life through a wider sociological and anthropological lens,” she added.

Senior business reporter Zhang Tianyuan, a regular winner of the awards, took away first place in Best Business News Writing (English) with her reporting on cross-border business. Her colleague Luo Weiteng won first runner-up with her story titled “A Placebo or Just a Painkiller, an analytical piece about the effect of the US Federal Reserve rate cut on Hong Kong’s stock market and economy.

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Also making history was Lesley Liu Xiaohan, who for the first time was crowned the champion of Best Short News Video with her creation Shared Changing, Shared Future. The video reflected the transformation of young Chinese’s travel habits in Malaysia through the interview of tourists, local staff, scholars, and officials.

“The award makes me feel greater responsibility, and I hope to bring more commendable works in the future”, Liu said.

Amber Wu, who started her journalism journey in October 2023, won the first runner-up in Best Young Reporter. Wu expressed her honor at winning this award and said that there are numerous experienced mentors in this industry to learn from.

“The greatest joy of being a journalist lies in the opportunity to engage with people from all walks of life, to converse with them, and to learn their stories,” Wu said, adding that she will strive to present real-life stories for readers.

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The design team also won two awards while the photographers won three awards. The veteran page-design team of Mok Kwok-cheong and Billy Wong Siu-kay claimed first runner-up and the merit award in Best News Page Design (Series).

Photographer Lam Yu-cheung was awarded first runner-up in Best Photograph (Features) and Merit 1 in Best Photograph (Sports) category. His colleague Chong Chun-pong also won Merit in the sports category.

The annual Hong Kong News Awards, a major event organized by The Newspaper Society of Hong Kong, presented 78 prizes this year from 639 submissions by 12 press organizations, across four sections, including reporting, writing, photography, and design.

Contact the writer at atlasshao@chinadailyhk.com