LONDON, June 26 (Xinhua) -- College students in Britain showcased their command of the Chinese language through speeches and cultural performances in the regional final of the 20th "Chinese Bridge" Chinese Proficiency Competition held online Saturday.
The contest consisted of five parts, including prepared speech on the theme "One World, One Family", knowledge quiz about China, three-minute artistic performance, two-minute self-made video and impromptu quiz.
Zuzanna Anna Suchcicka, a student who majors in Chinese and International Business at the University of Leeds, won the top prize out of the 10 participants after her fluent Chinese, smooth delivery and broad range of knowledge about the Chinese culture impressed the online judges.
"I'm so excited! I hope we all continue our efforts to improve our Chinese language skills," she said in a brief winning speech in Chinese, unable to contain her excitement.
Together with three other contestants, she will represent Britain to join the "Chinese Bridge" global final later this year.
"Language is a vehicle of civilization; it is also a bridge of communication between countries," said Chinese Ambassador to Britain Zheng Zeguang in the opening remarks.
Citing such issues as global public health, climate change, preserving biodiversity, the ambassador said that "no country can do it alone; the world must work together."
"If Chinese speakers and English speakers around the world join hands to deal with global challenges, they can make greater contributions to world peace and prosperity," he added.
Kate Ewart-Biggs, interim chief executive of the British Council, said: "In an increasingly complicated world, where solutions to great challenges must come from international cooperation, studying another language really is one the most valuable things anyone can do."
The "Chinese Bridge" is an annual competition aimed at arousing the enthusiasm of students in various countries to learn Chinese and strengthen the world's understanding of the Chinese language and culture.
Since the start of the competition in 2002, it has attracted more than 1.4 million young students from more than 150 countries around the world. Enditem
