On August 28, 2023, the 2023 “Chinese Bridge”-“HRH Princess Sirindhorn Cup”ChineseSpeech Contest for ASEAN Students Studying in China was held by Zunyi Medical Universityin Guiyang during theChina-ASEAN Education Cooperation Week,with the theme of “My Story with China”.

Twenty students from Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and other ASEAN countries studying in universities in Beijing, Zhejiang, Guizhou and other places took part in the contest. They talked about what they learned, saw, thought and felt during their study in China in fluent and vivid Chinese with the aid of videos and pictures.

2023 marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership and China’s accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, and also the 10th anniversary of Xi Jinping’s proposal to build a closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future. The exchange and cooperation between China and ASEAN in education have yielded remarkable achievements, by which China and ASEAN also had a better understanding to each other and formed a closer mutual friendship. This Contest uses the Chinese language as a bridge to demonstrate the charm of the Chinese language and Chinese culture. The success of this Contest would play an active role in improving the Chinese practical competence of foreign students studying in China, boosting the cultural and people-to-people exchanges between China and ASEAN, building a friendship bridge for China’s and ASEAN’s young students and facilitating China-ASEAN mutual learning and common development. It is reported that all prize-winners were invited to participate in the academic tour study - “Encountering Qianbei Culture, Bonding ZMU” held by Zunyi Medical University after this Contest.