A total of 10 Jordanians were announced on Saturday as winners of the first Chinese Language Competition that started in the Arab kingdom in mid April.

A total of 40 Jordanians who took Chinese languages courses at the state-run University of Jordan, Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Confucius Institute-Amman (TAG-Confucius) and military-run language institutes took part in the competition, Lai Wanzhu, culture counselor at the Chinese embassy in Amman said at the ceremony to present awards to the 10 winners.

"This is the first Chinese language competition to take place in Amman and it will be held annually," the diplomat said.

According to figures by the Chinese embassy, there are about 150 Jordanians who study Chinese in the Arab kingdom, many of whom are businesspeople who learn Chinese to conducts business with China.

Trade exchange between Jordan and China stands at about 2 billion U.S. dollars annually in average, according to the embassy.

(Xinhua News Agency May 17, 2010)