Ding Wei, vice-minister of the Ministry of Culture, gives a speech at the initial review meeting of Chinese cities for the "2017 East Asia City of Culture" was held in Beijing, July 11, 2016. [Photo/Chinaculture.org]

The initial review meeting of Chinese cities for the "2017 East Asia City of Culture" was held in Beijing on July 11. Ding Wei, vice-minister of the Ministry of Culture, and all the members of the review committee attended the meeting.

Ding said the event will boost the development of a city and should be given more attention.

The review consisted of the initial and final, two sections. At late July's final review meeting, the Chinese winner for the "2017 East Asia City of Culture" will be selected from the current three rivals: Sanya, Ha'erbin and Changsha.

The "East Asia City of Culture" is an annual cultural event that was proposed by China, Japan and Korea in 2013 for the first time. Every year, one city from each country will be chosen as the "East Asia City of Culture".

Ningbo of China, Nara-ken of Japan, and Jeju of South Korea were crowned for the 2016 event.