On February 25, the organizer of "Asia's 50 Best Restaurants" and the government of Japan's Saga Prefecture jointly decided to cancel the offline awards ceremony and related activities scheduled to be held in Japan from March 22 to 24, 2020.

It is reported that due to the continuous spread of the novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19), the awards ceremony will be changed to a "virtual" format on March 24 as scheduled to fully comply with the Japanese government's proposal to reduce large-scale events.

The organizer is planning a high-quality online broadcast of the awards ceremony, hoping that all relevant parties, including the chefs and restaurant founders, the media, partners and food lovers, can simultaneously witness the grand celebration online.

This year's celebrations, scheduled to take place in Saga Prefecture on the southern island of Kyushu, Japan, included an annual awards ceremony, #50BestTalks and a series of in-depth discussions about food and culture.

Last year's winners included 16 restaurants from Greater China alone, 12 from Japan, eight from Bangkok and seven from Singapore.

In the coming weeks, a number of special awards will continue to be presented ahead of the announcement of the new "Asia's 50 Best Restaurants" list.