Persistent Pursuit & Warm Friendship – the Preliminary Round for the 9th “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students Concludes at Belarus

Minsk, May 22nd – The Preliminary Round for the 9th “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students was held at the auditorium of Minsk State Linguistic University. Chen Daiwen, Chargés d’affaires of Chinese Embassy in Belarus, related leaders and teachers from educational institutes in Belarus which have opened Chinese curriculums and a number of university students participated in the competition.

After guests from the Education Department of the Chinese Embassy in Belarus had made an introduction on the current climate of Chinese teaching, 11 candidates began the competition. During the theme speech segment, candidate Lyudmila from Minsk State Linguistics University ranked first place with his speech entitled ‘A Charming China Tour’. During the Q&A segment and improvised speech segment, candidates answered all questions correctly and dealt with the improvised speech calmly. During the artistic talent show, candidates entertained the audience with song and dance, Chinese calligraphy and tea culture presentations. The most touching performance was a poetry recital from a candidate named Yekaterina who has lost her right arm but remains smiling throughout life, overcoming difficulties and continuing her studies. Her poetry recital entitled My Heart Loves the World and I Walk to Life with a Smile showed her resilience and industriousness, her performance also won respect from the audience and judges who gave her full marks.

At last, Lyudmila and Yekaterina both got 94 scores and shared the first prizes, they will be recommended to attend the finals in China. Associate Prof. Natalya P. Baranova, Chancellor of Minsk State Linguistic University, Chen Daiwen, Chargés d’affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Belarus and the director of the Confucius Institute at the Belarusian State University presented awards to winners

Chargés d’affaires Chen praised candidates’ performance in a concluding speech, expressing appreciation of school leaders’ support of the competition and Chinese teachers’ painstaking efforts. He also stated that the embassy will always support Chinese teaching and promotion, contribute to Chinese talent cultivation and make more contributions to China-Belarus friendship.