Papermarks10thanniversary

From: Shenzhen Daily

Updated: 2007-06-28 00:06

THE Shenzhen Daily will celebrate its 10th anniversary with a party this evening to be attended by city leaders, as well as expatriate and Chinese readers.

Leaders of the Shenzhen Press Group, of which the Shenzhen Daily is a member, will join more than 200 guests at the anniversary party at Marco Polo Shenzhen.

Even before the party, the newspaper has received congratulatory messages from a wide range of Chinese and foreign institutions and individuals.

The Information Office of the State Council, China"s Cabinet, said yesterday in a letter to the Shenzhen Daily that the newspaper has become a "window on China" for the outside world.

The Information Office of the Guangdong Provincial Government (IOGPG) is among government departments which have sent in letters of congratulations and praise.

In a letter to the newspaper, the IOGPG said: "We laud the great achievements the Shenzhen Daily has made in the past 10 years, and also express our heartfelt thanks for contributions its staff have made in promoting the province"s foreign affairs.

"The paper has become a bridge linking Guangdong and the rest of the world, catering to the needs of foreign readers who want to know about the province and Shenzhen as well," it said.

The Shenzhen Daily, founded July 1, 1997, is the first regional English-language daily newspaper in China and the only English-language daily in South China.

George E. Killian, president of the International University Sports Federation, e-mailed a letter to the Shenzhen Daily on the eve of the anniversary party.

"We are convinced that the four years of preparation and co-operation with FISU will be excellent. We insist on saying that without the involvement of the citizens of Shenzhen the Universiade cannot reach the success it deserves," he said.

Killian got to know the Shenzhen Daily when he visited Shenzhen last year to assess the city"s bid to host the 2011 Universiade. The newspaper published a number of special pages on the bid, doing its bit to help secure the city"s victory.

The newspaper has also received congratulatory messages from the British, Italian, Dutch, Thai, Swedish, Indonesian and Philippine consulates general in Guangzhou, as well as the major English-language newspapers in Hong Kong and the mainland, including The Standard, China Daily and Shanghai Daily.

Matthew Moody, consul political, economic and press with the British Consulate General in Guangzhou, added praise to his congratulations: "The Shenzhen Daily ... provides an important service to foreigners living in Shenzhen and the surrounding region."

Readers have contributed many stories on their bond with the Shenzhen Daily, some of which have been published in the paper.

Those invited to the anniversary party this evening were eagerly looking forward to it. Rachel Zeng, director of communications at InterContinental Shenzhen and a reader of the newspaper, said she would be "more than happy to attend."