During the 2018 AITA/IATA General Assembly in Lingen, Germany representatives from Rizhao, China, expressed an interest to host an AITA/IATA Festival of Youth Theatre. Lingen has a long-standing and strong link with Rizhao through the Lingen hospital and after representatives attended the Welt-Kindertheater-Fest and loved the event. In 2019, two delegates from Rizhao China visited Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada during the AITA/IATA World Festival for further discussions on hosting a festival.

In Late 2019, the then President Béatrice Cellario and Vice President Rob Van Genechten visited Rizhao and were impressed by what they saw and were confident that Rizhao would be an entirely suitable host of an AITA/IATA Festival, whether held for children or youth.

The COVID pandemic means that entry to China remains closed other than for essential business, but as soon as the borders open, President Aled Rhys-Jones plans to visit to inspect their theatre venues and facilities and transport to and from nearby airports.