CAIRO, May 16 (Xinhua) -- The final of the 25th "Chinese Bridge" Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students in Egypt was held here on Friday evening, with the attendance of 14 students majoring in Chinese.
The finalists advanced from a pool of 26 contestants representing 14 Egyptian universities in the preliminary rounds.
Nourelden Khaled Shamron Mohamed, a senior at the Confucius Institute at Cairo University, won the grand prize, while Shada Mohamed Maher Mohamed Hussein, a student from Ain Shams University, took the first prize.
The grand prize winner said Chinese is a unique language and the Chinese culture is rich and colorful, noting that the competition provided him with a valuable platform to showcase his Chinese proficiency, make friends from other countries, and realize his dreams.
"I will pursue further studies in China and hope to embark on a diplomatic career, striving to become an envoy of friendship between Egypt and China," he told Xinhua.
Addressing the award ceremony, Chinese Ambassador to Egypt Liao Liqiang said this year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Egypt, as well as the Year of China-Africa People-to-People Exchanges, voicing hope that the Chinese language will serve as a bridge to bring the peoples of China, Egypt and the broader Africa closer together.
Chinese plays an important role in promoting mutual understanding, people-to-people exchanges and development cooperation between China and Egypt, Liao said, encouraging more young Egyptians to learn the language.
Sherif Youssef Saleh, president of Port Said University, said the competition is a model for promoting cultural exchanges and experience sharing and strengthening dialogue between Egypt and China.
Port Said University is ready to continue playing an active role in enhancing bilateral cooperation on culture and scientific research, he said.
The competition was jointly hosted by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation under China's Ministry of Education and the Chinese Embassy in Egypt.
According to the Chinese Embassy in Egypt, Chinese has been officially incorporated into Egypt's national education system. Egypt has opened 36 Chinese majors across universities, three Confucius Institutes and two Confucius Classrooms, while 41 public middle schools have introduced Chinese as an elective subject for a second foreign language. ■