Yiwu authorities launched the fourth Yiwu Luo Binwang International Children's Poetry Contest in Beijing on Nov 29.

Entries can be submitted until June 30, 2024.

Li Jingze, vice chairman of the China Writers Association, expressed hope that the contest will not only be a creative competition featuring outstanding written works, but also become a platform for showing children the charm of poetry culture.

Ye Tong, vice chairman of the Zhejiang Writers Association, noted at the launch ceremony that the contest will play a significant role in advancing cultural exchange and the international dissemination of literature in Zhejiang.

Yiwu Mayor Ye Bangrui invited literature enthusiasts to the city to experience the culture of the commercial city, listen to the laughter of children in the prosperous era of China, and explore the most beautiful "poetry and distant lands" in their hearts.

The competition has been held three times so far, receiving over 60,000 poetry submissions from 51 countries and regions. This year's competition is divided into two categories: a youth group and an adult group. Participants in the youth group must be aged from seven to 17, while participants in the adult group must be at least 18 years old. The submitted works must be Chinese writings and unpublished children's poems. All submissions will undergo a preliminary evaluation by July 31, 2024. The top 80 authors in the youth group will be invited to Yiwu for field research and the live semi-finals.

Luo Binwang (619-687), a well-known poet in the early Tang Dynasty (618-907), was born in Yiwu and is best known for his poem Ode to the Goose, which was written when he was just seven years old.