The Pingtan leg of the Kiteboard Tour Asia (KTA) officially kicked off on Thursday, May 9, and will last for four days, Pingtan's official website reported in Pingtan county, Southeast China's Fujian province.

An opening ceremony was held at Haiyu Square on Longfengtou Bathing Beach Thursday morning. Chen Zhonghe, deputy director of the Fujian Provincial Sports Bureau; Neil Godbold, KTA founding director; Andy Curno, race official from the International Sailing Federation; and Pingtan's major government officials all attended the ceremony.

Chen Zhonghe extended a welcome to guests, athletes and judges.

Neil Godbold thanked the organizing committee for hosting the event, which is the largest-scale event ever in the KTA's history.

A total of 122 kite surfers, the highest ever, from 30 countries and regions will participate in the event in Pingtan this year.

The prize money also hit a record high of $30,000.

The kitesufing event will make Pingtan more popular and will help accelerate Pingtan's transformation into a world-class tourist island and international pilot zone for development, said Gong Qinggai, director of the Pingtan administrative committee, at the opening ceremony.

Edited by Chen Zhilin and Michael Thai