New World Department Store China Limited ("NWDS" or the "Company"; Hong Kong stock code: 825), one of the largest owners and operators of department stores in the PRC, is pleased to announce that the 16 contestants of the "The 1st NWDS Spokesperson" Contest - Northeastern Region Semi-Final have been selected. Contestants will have a keen competition on 9 September 2009, striving to enter the final contest that will be held in Beijing in May next year.

Overwhelming responses were received for the application of Northeastern Region Semi-Final with approximately 2,000 applicants from Harbin, Shenyang, Anshan and Dalian. After prudent selections, elected applicants attended interview with assessment on talent performance, self introduction and interaction with interviewers to showcase his/her unique characteristics. Judges evaluated the applicants in various aspects including appearance, body shape, conversation, character, style, special talent and fashion sense. After rounds of interviews, 8 male and 8 female contestants have been chosen. (Please refer contestants' particulars attached)

Public voting of Northeastern Region Semi-Final will commence from 20 August 2009 to 5 September 2009. The public can vote for their favorite contestants at the designated polling station in the three stores of NWDS in Shenyang*. VIP members cast their vote with purchase at store during the polling period can enjoy double bonus points at the purchase while platinum VIP members can receive triple bonus points. Besides the panel of judges, media and selected platinum VIP members will also be invited to cast their votes at the scene on 9 September 2009. In addition, there will be notary to monitor the counting of votes that night in order to enhance fairness of the contest. Public polling together with votes of media & selected platinum VIP members account for 40% of the total rating of each contestant at Northeastern Region Semi-Final.

The 16 contestants will receive a series of training before the Semi-Final on 9 September 2009, including cat walk runway, dancing, fashion mix & match initiation and Q&A handling etc, to fully equip themselves to encounter the challenges of dance performance, swimsuit Q&A session and fashion show during the contest as well as demonstrating their personalized style that tie in with the theme of "New Character". Nationwide launching ceremony cum "The 1st NWDS Spokesperson" Contest - Northeastern Region Semi-Final will be held on 9 September 2009 at 6:06pm, symbolizing a Chinese blessing of long-lasting and infinity.

Mr Adrian Cheng, Executive Director of NWDS, the Chief of this rebranding programme, is glad for the huge response from the application of Northeastern Region Semi-Final, "Keen application reveals that consumers value high-quality living and pursue trendy and personalized style, reflecting the development of rebranding program is on the right track which can cater for the market needs, as well as further ensuring its effectiveness. Each of the 16 contestants of the Northeastern Region Semi-Final has his/her own charisma and stylish characteristics, which alikes our image that emphasized the element of 'Living Style' and 'Fashion style'. Contestants are believed to endeavor to deliver our new image of 'Enriching Lives．Enhancing Characters' aggressively on 9 September 2009, striving to enter the final contest that will be held in Beijing in May of 2010."

* The 3 department stores are Shenyang Nanjing Street Branch Store, Shenyang Taiyuan Street Branch Store and Shenyang Zhonghua Road Branch Store.

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