All three applicant cities for the 2018 Winter Olympics have made the International Olympic Committee shortlist.

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Germany's Munich, South Korea's Pyeongchang and France's Annecy will now have about 12 months for the final round of campaigning before the IOC elects the winning bid in Durban, South Africa, on July 6, 2011.

The Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi will host the 2014 Winter Games.

"The (IOC) Executive Board today decided that all three applicant cities deserved to move to the second phase of the bidding procedure," IOC Olympic Games Executive Director Gilbert Felli said in Lausanne.

"It has been made clear, however, that Annecy needed to review its project. We look forward to working with the three candidate cities and wish them good luck for the year of competition ahead."

The decision was based on a technical report analysing in detail the quality of the bids.

The South Korean resort is bidding for the third straight time after narrowly losing out to Vancouver for the 2010 and Sochi for the 2014 Games.

Pyeongchang and Munich's overall concept won a mark of between eight and nine points out of 10 while Annecy was marked between four and seven points.

The three cities now have until January to submit their candidature files.

The files will be analysed by the IOC's evaluation commission, which will also visit the bidders, before issuing a report about a month before the vote.