Awarding Ceremony of the 21st “Chinese Bridge” Competition – 20th June
The Awards Ceremony of the 21st “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition for undergraduates in Sri Lanka was successfully held on 20th of June 2022 at the board room, Faculty of Arts, University of Colombo under the patronage of his excellency Mr. Qi Zhenhong-Ambassador, Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka, Senior Prof. H.D. Karunarathna-Vice Chancellor of University of Colombo, Senior Prof. Lasantha Manawadu-Dean, Faculty of Arts and Mr. Zhang Yingbao-Chinese Cultural Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka.
The competition was sponsored by the Centre for Language Education & Co-operation and the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka. It was organized by the Confucius Institute of the University of Colombo. Confucius Institute of the University of Kelaniya and the Confucius Classroom of the Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka were the co-organizers.
Ambassador Mr. Qi Zhenhong mentioned that the “Chinese Bridge” is a series of Chinese competitions and an important platform for young students from the worldwide to learn Chinese language and understand the mutual culture among different nations. He further stated that it has become an important brand event for international cultural exchanges recently. Also, he mentioned that the “Chinese Bridge” has been promoting China-Sri Lanka friendship and mutual understanding over the years and this year marks the 65th anniversary of the establishment of China-Sri Lanka diplomatic ties. He made his words with the strong expectation that Sri Lankan young people will grasp opportunities and boost the bilateral ties via learning Chinese.
Senior Prof. H.D. Karunathna-Vice Chancellor of University of Colombo appreciated that the Confucius Institute has been providing a platform for cultural exchange and promoting Chinese language learning by hosting the “Chinese Bridge” competition and other activities.
Senior Prof. Lasantha Manawadu-Dean, Faculty of Arts made applaud to the both two directors and to the CI team for their hard work. He further stated that the Confucius Institute is a very small unit in the Faculty of Arts but conducting very big tasks and therefore an invitation is there for such events in every week and hence there are news to be published frequently. His gracious complement enlightened this event.
On behalf of the Confucius Institute at University of Colombo Prof. Wimal Hewamanage welcomed the participants and he mentioned that CIUC offered a new bachelors program this year for undergraduates to grasp opportunities to learn Chinese, since its being the most contemporary achievement of CIUC
Sri Lankan Undergraduates from six universities participated in the contest via zoom since the breakout of the COVID-19 pandemic. The theme of this event was “One World One Family” and it was consisted of three parts such as the keynote speech, the knowledge quiz and the talent show.
Ms. Hashini Chalandi from the University of Kelaniya won the first place in the competition and awarded a prize of Rs.60,000, the champion award and a certificate. The winner will participate in the final round in China in the near future as the representative in Sri Lanka. Also she won a full scholarship to China offered by the Chinese Language Education Centre.
