The Asian Students Photography Exhibition was initiated by Education Forum for Asia and China Youth Daily at the 2006 Annual Conference of the Education Forum for Asia. China University Media Union has participated in the event since 2008. This event is available to all young students in the Asia Pacific Region and beyond. It is committed to representing a rich Asian culture and civilization to a wider range of people and on a deeper level. Through photography, students exchange their artistic touch and aesthetic sense regarding their country's longstanding customs and traditions, magnificent geographic features, diversified demographics, and whatever beauty they can find to express the unique spirit of Asia.

Since the first grand festival in 2006, the "Asian Students Photography Exhibition" has been successfully held for eight consecutive years, collecting over 23,000 photographs from more than 25 Asian & Pacific countries and regions, as well as entries from other continents. Among all these participant photographs, 287 have been selected as excellent ones. The photographs are from students in Greater China, the Republic of Korea, Mongolia, Japan, Vietnam, Nepal, Malaysia, India, United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan, Great Britain and the United States, and even more. Kirti Nidhi Bista, former prime minister of Nepal), Lee Soo Sung, former prime minister of the Republic of Korea, Chen Zhili, former state councilor of PRC, He Luli, former vice chairperson of standing committee of NPC of PRC and central chairperson of MDC, Zhou Ji, Minister of Education of PRC, Long Yongtu, former secretary-general of Boao Forum for Asia, Wang Zuoshu, central vice-chairman of China Association of Promoting Democracy, Liu Xincheng, central vice-chairman of China Association of Promoting Democracy, Du Yue, secretary-general of UNESCO China Committee, Tao Xiping, president of China Association for Non-government Education, Zhang Li, director of National Center for Development Research, Hu Zhiping, deputy director of National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language and other statesmen and important persons from home and abroad have presented awards to the winning students. They all think very highly of this exhibition.  All these selected works will be on a tour display after the exhibition in domestic and foreign schools and educational institutions.

The Education Forum for Asia has been established as a platform to address issues facing the development of education in Asia and to highlight and support innovative approaches to educational development goals, education policymaking and international cooperation in education. The Forum also works to address social and community development concerns in the Asia region and to promote mutual understanding between nations through cultural and scholarly exchanges.

The Chinese Scholarship Council and Boao Forum for Asia joined with UNESCO to collaborate on developing a conference focused on international education and the development of global talent and human resources in the Asia region. In cooperation with the Chinese Ministry of Education, all three organizations worked to further develop these ideas into the creation of an Education Forum. On the 5th and 6th of December, 2003 a Meeting of Initiators for the Education Forum for Asia was held in Beijing. The seven initiators of the Forum are H.E. Mr. Fidel V. Ramos, former President of the Philippines, H.E. Mr. Sergey Terechshenko, former Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, H.E. Mr. Lee Soo Sung, former Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea, H.E. Mr. Kirti Nidhi Bista, former Prime Minister of Nepal, H.E. Mrs. Jenny Shipley, former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Mr. Sheldon Shaeffer, Director of UNESCO Bangkok, Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education, and Mr. Vitor Ng, Chairman of the Macao Foundation, China.