Harbin, the capital city of Northeast China’s Heilongjiang province, was chosen as the permanent host site of the prestigious Schoenfeld International String Competition in 2020, according to the competition organizers.

The honor was announced at a press conference for the 2020 Harbin Schoenfeld International String Competition held in Harbin on June 6.

The Schoenfeld competition – involving violins, cellos and chamber music groups -- was initiated by the Schoenfeld sisters, one a world-famous violinist and the other a famous cellist in the 1930s.

The first competition was held in Hong Kong in 2013.

The competition has evolved to become one of the world's most prestigious international music events, along with Tchaikovsky International Music Contest, International Chopin Piano Competition and Concurs internazionale di violino Niccolò Paganini – the latter a violin contest named after famed Italian violinist and composer Nicolo Paganini.

The competition organizers said Harbin was chosen as the competition host site due to its profound music cultural background.

The city is compatible with the traditional music culture of the East and the West because of its Russian influences and Chinese identity, due to its geographic location on the border of both country and hits historical influences.

It initiated its first Harbin summer concert in 1961 and  was recognized as a Music City by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 2010.

Chinese-American violinist Xue Suli, artistic director of the Schoenfeld International String Competition, introduced the competition to Harbin in 2014.

Since the Harbin competition opened for international participation, around 1,000 performers from more than 80 world-class music academies have enrolled. Of these, overseas performers accounted for more than 70 percent of the performers.

The organizers of the competition also announced that this year’s competition will adopt a new four-round live competition system.

They said that after the global qualifiers, a maximum of 35 violinists and 35 cellists will come to Harbin for live competitions, thereby increasing the professionalism of the competition.

Artistic director Xue Suli said that the competition not only provides an excellent stage for local music talent and international virtuosos, but will also establish Harbin as a top international top exchange platform for music education and the performing arts. Xue added that it was of great importance for Harbin to improve its international image.