HONG KONG (AFP) ― The organisers of Asia’s most prestigious prize for literature said Thursday they were looking for a new sponsor after the Man Group announced it was ending its funding for the prize after six years.

The Man Asian Literary Prize began in 2007 and is given to the best novel by an Asian writer, either written in English or translated into English.

The prize ― which aims to raise appreciation of Asian literature ― said the Man Group, a London-based investment firm, would end its six-year run as sponsor after this year’s prize, which will be handed out in March 2013.

“We look forward to the future with a new partner, confident that Asian fiction is now beginning to win the global readership and recognition it deserves,” the prize’s executive director, David Parker, said in a statement.