Chinese-language contest links China to the world
( 2003-12-12 15:48) (chinadaily.com.cn by Song Tong)
The semi-final
and final round of The Second Chinese Bridge - Chinese Proficiency Competition
for Foreign College Students will be held respectively in Shanghai and Beijing
in December 13-23, Mr. Zhang Guoqing, deputy manager of National Office for
Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (NOCFL) said in a news briefing Friday
morning in Beijing.
The competition features the theme of China in the new century and aims at
letting the world know better about the changes having taken place in China
since the 1980s.
Sixty-three contestants from 28 countries will arrive in Shanghai for the
semi-final round of competition on Saturday, December 13, 2003. The final round
of 16 semifinal winners will be held on December 21 in Beijing.
All contestants are undergraduates or postgraduates under 30 years of age.
They must have been born and grown up outside China. Chinese must not be their
first language.
Three first prizewinners will be awarded titles of
Chinese Ambassador. They also will be given Chinese Bridge scholarships for
study in China, along with five second and eight third prizewinners.
Around 25 million people from overseas are studying Chinese worldwide. A
total of 85,000 foreigners are studying Chinese in 395 Chinese universities or
colleges, according to NOCFL, co-sponsors of the competition.
"Chinese Bridge" Competition, inaugurated in 2002, is held annually. It has
aroused great enthusiasm among Chinese-language learning people from around the
world, NOCFl officials said.
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