The city of Tianjin in North China is shrouded in haze, Dec 10, 2015. This photo taken by Zhang Lei won first prize among single photos in the Contemporary Issues category of the World Press Photo competition. [Photo/IC]

Two Chinese photographers' photos won prizes in the 59th annual World Press Photo contest on Thursday afternoon.

The photos, portraying severe haze in northern China and the disastrous explosion in Tianjin municipality last August,won first and third prize, respectively.

Australian photographer Warren Richardson won the World Press Photo of the Year 2015 with the picture called Hope for a New Life, showing a man passing a baby through the fence at the Hungarian-Serbian border near Horgos, Serbia, and Roszke, Hungary, on Aug 28, 2015.

A total of 82,951 photos were submitted by 5,775 photographers from 128 countries and regions. All winners are invited to the annual awards days, a networking event and celebration of the prizewinners, which takes place in Amsterdam at the end of April this year.

World Press Photo, founded in 1955, holds the world's largest and most prestigious annual press photography contest.