'Chinese Bridge' language contest held in Latvia

The 12th "Chinese Bridge", a Chinese proficiency contest, was held in Latvia on Tuesday.

The event drew over 150 participants and observers, including officials from the Latvian Education and Science Ministry, renowned sinologists, Chinese language teachers, students, as well as enthusiasts of the Chinese language and media representatives.

A total of 36 contestants took part in this year's competition, divided into Adults and College Division, Teenagers Division and Children Division. The youngest participant was 9 years old and the oldest was 39.

The three winners -- Nadina Rode, Ivans Nilovs and Aleksandra Kila, will go to China to represent Lativa in the semi-finals and finals of the Chinese Proficiency Competition for foreign students from across the world.

Chinese Ambassador to Latvia, Yang Guoqiang, said in his welcome remarks at the event that "Chinese Bridge" Competition had been having an increasingly far-reaching effect on Chinese language students in Latvia.

University of Latvia vice rector Andris Kangro said that the annual "Chinese Bridge" competition had become the most influential Chinese-Latvian educational and cultural cooperation project.

Being the first Baltic country to start Chinese language teaching, Latvia has become the most active among the three Baltic states in that respect.

So far, nearly 200 students have been involved in Chinese language studies and more than 1,000 people in Latvia have learnt the Chinese language.

The Confucius Center at Riga Stradins University and the Confucius Institute at the University of Latvia are the two main institutions to promote Chinese language learning and studies in Latvia.