On July 25, the 53th European Go Congress was held in Groningen in the northern part of the Netherlands. Mr. Zhang Daxing, Charge d'affairs a.i. of the Chinese Embassy in the Netherlands attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech. Almost 700 players from 35 countries will participate in this congress. The Chinese Weiqi Association has sent a group headed by Mr. Zhang Wendong, 9 Dan Rank of the Professional Go game to the congress for demonstration games.

As the largest event of its kind in the world, the congress has been held in a different country annually since 1957. There are various games during the congress, not only including the highest professional level contests around the Europe, but also Quick Go Games, Novelty Go Games, and etc. The aim of these games is to make the players with different levels enjoy the entertainment of the Go Game. The congress was hosted by Dutch Go Association for the 6th time, and sponsored by Zhuyeqing Tea Company of China.