People view an exhibition at the Art Museum of Lishui during the 2019 Lishui Photography Festival. [Photo by Xiao Da/chinadaily.com.cn]

The Development Plan for the Lishui International Photography City (2021-30), a new ten-year plan for the transformation of a city in East China's Zhejiang province into a city of photography with global influence, was recently officially released.

According to the plan, the near-term goal (2021-25) is to build the core area of Lishui International Photography City and form an urban environment suitable for the development of photography.

The long-term goal (2026-30) focuses on the prominent role of photography in the city's economic and social development.

The plan also makes clear that the key tasks in the next ten years are to build four hubs: a hub for international photography exchanges, a hub for international ecological photography creation, a hub for photography industry innovation and development, and a hub for the collection of high-quality photography elements.

The city has been holding the Lishui Photography Festival since 2004. The festival in 2019 attracted nearly 10,000 photographers from more than 100 countries and more than 70 international organizations such as the Format International Photography Festival, New York University, and Orvieto Photography.

In 1999, Lishui was named the first "Chinese City of Photography" by the China Photographers Association.