MANILA, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Twelve Philippine students on Thursday participated in "Chinese Bridge," Chinese Proficiency Competition in the Philippines Finals, sponsored by Chinese Embassy of the Philippines in cooperation with the organizer Confucius Institute at Angeles University Foundation (AUF).

The contest on Thursday afternoon was divided into three parts, including the knowledge quiz about China and related topics, the speech about the topic "One world, one family," and performances by participants to show their different talents using Chinese language or arts.

Apart from the contest, during the finals held at AUF sports and cultural center in northern Philippine Angeles City, the teachers and students from the Confucius Institute at AUF also in return showcased their talents by singing, dancing, drawing traditional calligraphy and playing Chinese musical instruments.

Amazed by her outstanding performances, the judges gave the highest point scores to Rica Valenzuela whose Chinese name is Wei Yi, a 21-year-old student of the host Confucius Institute at AUF.

She told Xinhua that she has been learning Chinese for almost four years. She chose Chinese as the subject in the college because she saw it as both fascinating and useful.

"Chinese culture is very interesting to me and I as well want to be an interpreter when I graduate. Actually, I already interned in a local company to teach Chinese people English and Filipino for nearly nine months," she said.

She is qualified to attend the International Finals held in China later this year, according to the organizers.

When addressing the contest, Joseph Angeles, the president of AUF, said the "Chinese Bridge" contest is evidence of the friendship between the Philippines and the Chinese people, which helps bring up more talents devoted to the cultural exchanges between the two countries.

"In recent years, the demand for Chinese studies in the Philippines has been increasing rapidly. It is through learning Chinese Mandarin that we can promote people-to-people exchanges between the Philippines and China," he said.

The "Chinese Bridge" is an annual competition aimed at stimulating the enthusiasm of students in various countries to learn Chinese and strengthen the world's understanding of the Chinese language as well as culture.

The contest in the Philippines has become important as it builds a communication bridge between young Chinese and Filipinos, according to the Confucius Institute at AUF, which has been holding the finals of "Chinese Bridge" contest for the two consecutive years. Enditem

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