On 25 October 2015, the final round of China-ASEAN Hand-in-Hand Youth Foreign Languages Public Speaking Contest on the “Belt and Road” and its Closing Ceremony, hosted by Foreign Affairs Office of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, were held in Nanning, Guangxi. As one of the supporting organizations and co-sponsors of the event, ASEAN-China Centre (ACC) sent its representatives to attend the event.
The Contest was aimed at deepening mutual understanding, enhancing Guangxi-ASEAN collaboration and strengthening ASEAN-China traditional friendship by encouraging youths from China and ASEAN countries to tell the stories on ASEAN-China friendship in each other’s languages. The Contest was carried out in three different categories in terms of languages, namely Mandarin, English and ASEAN Non-Common Languages (Indonesian, Thai and Vietnamese). Since its launching in early September, 11,000 youth contestants from China and ASEAN countries throughout Guangxi had actively involved, and 40 winners received rewards at the awarding ceremony through intense competitions of the preliminary, semi-finals and final including 75 contests happened in 25 areas all around Guangxi.
Vice Chairman Zhang Xiaoqin of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Director-General Zhou Mingwei of China Foreign Language Publishing and Distribution Bureau, Vice Chairman Zhang Jiuhuan of China Public Diplomacy Association, Director General Li Wenjie of Foreign Affairs Office of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, joined by Lao Consul General in Nanning and Vietnamese Vice Consul General in Nanning, as well as the representatives from the Consulates General of Cambodia, Malaysia and Myanmar participated in the Closing Ceremony. Director Huang Ying of General Affairs and Coordination Division (GACD) of ACC took part in the Ceremony and presented the awards.
Director-General Zhou Mingwei in his address, highly valued the significance of holding the ASEAN-China Hand-in-Hand Youth Foreign Languages Public Speaking Contest on the “Belt and Road” by Guangxi, and congratulated the great success of the Contest. It was expected that Guangxi could continue to build a good momentum and further ASEAN-China people-to-people exchanges, particularly in youth exchanges, so as to contribute to the “Belt and Road” initiative for mutual benefits and win-win cooperation.