The Palace Museum in Beijing on Thursday kicked off its first nationwide competition on cultural creativity of Chinese traditional brands.

The event encourages competitors to mix modern design into traditional craftsmanship while maintaining the original functionality of the products.

According to Shan Jixiang, director of the Palace Museum, the initiative is to raise people's awareness to better preserve traditional craftsmanship in a wave of urbanization, which has demolished many old neighborhoods and stores by streets.

All entries will be categorized into eight sections covering various fields in daily life, including jewelry, medicines, and food.

The winners are to be exhibited in the Palace Museum in early 2017, and a marketing platform on those new designs is also planned in cooperation with the China General Chamber of Commerce.

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