The 14th "Chinese Bridge" competition, Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students, was held Sunday at the Chinese Embassy in Romania.
A total of 20 contestants from main cities across Romania - Bucharest, Sibiu, Cluj-Napoca, Timisoara and Brasov - took part in this year's competition.
This year's theme, The Chinese Dream, was an opportunity for the Romanian students to present the outcome of their efforts and their talent in the acquisition of the Chinese language and culture during four tests: a written exam, a 4-minute speech, a 3-question cultural test and an artistic performance.
The Special Prize went to Motoriu Andra Florentina, a student from central city of Cluj-Napoca. She will represent Romania for the final world contest to be held in central China's Changsha city in July. Fenesan Laura Mihaela, also from Cluj-Napoca won the 1st Prize and will be invited to China to watch the game.
Chinese Ambassador to Romania Xu Feihong told the students that the "Chinese Bridge" competition has become a platform for international college students to improve and display their Chinese language skills, and share experience in learning Chinese, he expressed his hope that the Romanian students will further enhance their Chinese proficiency through this competition.
The Chinese language was introduced in 2011 in Romania as an optional subject to study in universities and, starting with the 2014-2015 academic year, it was also introduced in the Romanian secondary and high schools, said at the beginning of the competition Anca Petculescu from the Romanian Ministry of Education.
The Confucius Institutes in Bucharest, Sibiu, Cluj-Napoca and Brasov are the main institutions to promote Chinese language learning and studies in Romania.
The "Chinese Bridge" competition is an annual event organized by the Office of Chinese Language Council International with the Chinese Hanban affiliated to the Ministry of Education of China. It has been held for university students of Chinese language and culture around the world since 2002. The competition is made up of local heats held abroad and a world final held each year in China.
