Cannes Lions Masterpieces Shown in Beijing

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, November 25, 2001

Cannes Lions Masterpieces Shown in Beijing

The 2001 Cannes Lions international advertising festival displayed its winners' work Saturday.

The 2001 Cannes Lions international advertising festival displayed its winners' work Saturday.

Festival Chairman Roger Hatchuel told the visitors at the opening ceremony: "Cannes Lions stands out for its creativity. To have a good advertisement, you have to execute an idea with simplicity, make it convincing and with a little humor."

Cannes Lions, set up in 1954, is a major rendezvous for marketing and advertising professionals from all over the world, and one of the world's most prestigious advertising awards.

The awards criteria are very strict. Wu Gaohan, deputy general secretary of the China Advertising Association, said that only two percent of the participants can win a prize.

Over 9,000 people from some 100 countries and regions submitted 19,000 advertisements to the festival this year. The results came out in June. One advertisement from China won a bronze prize. Previously, Chinese advertisements had won only two other bronze prizes.

"One of the reasons that China gets few prizes is that only a few advertisements enter the competition," Hatchuel said. "This will change when a new set of rules is introduced. Advertisers can enter the 2002 competition directly, and will no longer need to be selected by advertising associations."

He added, "I have confidence in China's advertisements. China's entry to the WTO and its successful bid for the 2008 Olympic Games show that China is opening wider to the outside world. This will help Chinese advertisements improve and meet the world standards."

The Chinese mainland topped the Asia-Pacific advertising markets last year, with a total spending of 10.4 billion U.S. dollars, according to a recent survey by the A.C.Nielson Company.