The 2025 UK-China Photo Awards Ceremony and Exhibition Launch: Capturing the Spirit of Sports and Celebrating Our Common Humanity
A new photography exhibition opened at Alliance Manchester Business School (AMBS), fostering mutual understanding between the British and Chinese people by highlighting universal experiences that unite us all.
Launched on Wednesday, 7 May, the exhibition is a joint initiative of the , the , and , with support from Yunnan University and Henan Technology University. It features the top entries from the .
Now on display in the AMBS foyer, the exhibition showcases 30 outstanding photographs, each accompanied by bilingual short stories that provide personal context and cultural depth, centred around this year’s theme: The Spirit of Sports.
The competition attracted several hundred smartphone entries from residents of both the UK and China. The finalists and winners were selected by a judging panel comprised of:
- Rory Underwood – England Rugby Union legend (& British-Malay/Chinese).
- Xiaolu Guo – Award-winning British-Chinese author and filmmaker.
- Prof Michael Wood – Historian, broadcaster, and University of Manchester Professor.
- Krizia Li, MBA – Fonder & CEO at Vermillion: Asian art + design.
- Dr Zhang Hai – Research Director, Center for Visual Anthropology, Yunnan University.
The winning photos were unveiled at the launch event by MCI Research Director, Dr Xiaobing Wang, and Creative Manchester Director, Dr John McAuliffe. The awards went to:
- UK Winner (?500): Stephanie Cahill with ‘Running for Yia Yia’
- China Winner (?500): Liu Xiaoguang 刘小光 with ‘The Ceremony of Crossing the River’
- UK Runners-up (?200/each): Edyta Rice with ‘The Ascent of Determination’ and John Gorman with ‘Martin Perry – Para Team GB’
- China Runners-up (?200/each): Wu Zhou吴茁 with ‘Joyful Ice-Skating Rink’ and Zhang Lijun张利军 with ‘Village Volleyball Tournament’
Stephanie Cahill, the UK winner, attended the event in person and shared what the award meant to her and her daughters, who are featured in her winning photograph. Also, Liu Xiaoguang, the China winner, sent a heartfelt video message to express his gratitude.
MCI Director, Peter Gries, who has been involved in the competition since its inception seven years ago, noted:
While team competitions can divide us into opposing tribes (think of the Manchester derby), sports can also unite us. Whether playing a sport together, or observing professional or amateur athletics, we all experience emotions from the thrill of victory to the agony of defeat. This year’s finalists captured the spirit of sports in visually arresting ways, reminding viewers from Manchester to Kunming to Zhengzhou that while there may be many differences across nations and cultures, we all share a common humanity.
The exhibition is open to visitors at AMBS until 1 June. It encourages people to vote for their favourite photo, either in-person or online. The photo receiving the highest number of votes will receive a special prize as part of our People’s Choice Award.