"Chinese Bridge", More than A Contest for the Chinese Language（在线收听）

A Chinese Language contest for middle and high schoolers worldwide is now in full swing in Chongqing.

As CRI's Su Yi reports, this year's event has drawn some 200 students from 43 countries.

 
The "Chinese Bridge" competition is a collection of four Chinese language proficiency competitions.

It's sponsored and organized by the Chinese language and culture promotional agency Hanban.

The contest for middle and high schoolers, in addition to three other contests for adults, is being touted as an opportunity for none-native Chinese students to display their Chinese language skills and cultural knowledge.

Hu Zhiping is a promotional officer with Hanban.

"Chinese Bridge" has become a brandname language contest for students who want to display their Chinese language competencies and to communicate with native Chinese speakers. It is a bridge of culture, a bridge of friendship and a bridge of understanding. Those contestants have the rare chance to get a personal experience of Chinese culture, to learn the Chinese society and make similar-aged Chinese friends."

Hu says over 10,000 students have taken part in the competition since it was first launched in 2008.

It's believed there are roughly 40-million non-Chinese who have learned, or are learning, Chinese languages.

As such, Hanban, which organizes the Confucius Institutes, has set them up in 96 countries around the world.

One of those countries is Germany.

Wei Deke is a German who teaches Chinese in Berlin.

"When i was in college learning Chinese some 20 years ago, i never imagined that the language could gain this popularity. It grows so fast. I am full of envy that students now could have so many opportunities to improve their Chinese. The "Chinese Bridge" in particular, is such a wonderful event in gathering young Chinese fans together and giving them the chance to learn China and the Chinese culture."

Sai Kan is a high school student from Norway who is here to take part in this year's competition.

"My dream is to become a diplomat and I want to become a diplomat in China. China is just so important in international politics and trade. I am in this competition because I think it is far from enough for me to learn the language only, i have to know the culture and the customs of China as well."

Aside from the competition, the guests are going to take part in cultural activities as well.

The event runs until the end of next week.

For CRI, I'm Su Yi.