The opening ceremony of the 1st Quzhou Lanke Cup World Go Open Championship is held in Quzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, on Aug 18. [Photo/qz828.com]

The opening ceremony of the 1st Quzhou Lanke Cup World Go Open Championship hosted by the Chinese Weiqi Association and Quzhou municipal people's government was held in Quzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, on Aug 18.

The game Go, or weiqi in Chinese, is an abstract strategy game where two players take turns in placing black and white stones on a board.

The Quzhou Lanke Cup World Go Championship is listed as the top professional Go competition in China, according to the Chinese Weiqi Association.

The event is meant to promote Go.

During the ceremony, the establishment of the China Weiqi Junior Sports School in Quzhou, which aims to improve the training system of weiqi talent, improve the competitive level, and cultivate high-level professionals for the country, was announced.

The city will also take the event as an opportunity to speed up the construction of the Go cultural industry system integrating culture, tourism and competitions so as to further increase the attractiveness and influence of Chinese Go, according to Xu Zhangyan, mayor of Quzhou.