Taichung’s Ma Jialing Chosen as AKB48 Trainee

An 18-year-old is set to become the first Taiwanese trainee for J-pop girl band AKB48.

Ma Jialing from Taichung beat out 2,152 Taiwan competitors aged 11 to 23, passing through written tests, interviews, and 3 months of intensive training to become the band’s first Taiwanese trainee.

Ma is moving to Tokyo in February to begin attending events and performing with the 48-member girl band.

photo source: AKB48 Facebook page