The Confucius Institute at the University of Zambia (CIUNZA) held the 16th Chinese Bridge- on May 26, 2017, where 9 promising Zambian-Chinese students displayed their mastery of the Chinese language and culture.
The Competition which is sponsored by Confucius Institute Headquarters-Hanban in cooperation with local governments consists of 3 events: “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College students, “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign High School Students and Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign Students in China.
Well known for its cultural and educational exchanges worldwide, the competition aims at stirring up student’s enthusiasm of mastery of the Chinese language and culture as well as introduce Chinese to the world.

In his speech, Chinese embassy in Zambia Political Consular, Chen Shijie expressed pleasure with the successful opening of the competition. He stated that the competition contributed to the mutual understanding between China and Zambia.
“This competition opens a new window for young people in Zambia to learn the Chinese language culture hence contributing to the cooperation between our people and Zambia.  Such events together with the 2017 Joint Conference of Confucius Institutes in Africa drew a blue print of China’s future relations with Zambia and Africa,” Shijie said.
And CI-UNZA Director Sande Ngalande noted that the competition helped assess student’s mastery in the Chinese language and culture. 
“Today is a good day for us as we get to evaluate the students’ knowledge in the Chinese language and culture. CI-UNZA has marked a new partnership with China and students’ progress in the study of Chinese contributing to this partnership,” Ngalande said. 
Since its launch in 2002, the “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College student has been held 11 times and attracted more than 1,000 college students from over 80 countries participating in the semi-finals and finals in China.
At present the competition has become an important platform for college students of various countries to learn the Chinese language and culture. This helps build a communication bridge between the youths in China and other countries.
Students that participated in the competition were: University of Zambia- Rafael Phiri, Chipulu Chipeleme, Njavwa Mbale and Marian Nawajwi; Copperbelt University - Joseph Kafula; Mulungushi University- Tracey Mulenga, Kondwani Kanduza and Chipego Njobvu; and Gift Njekwa from Livingstone Institute of Business and Engineering Studies.
The top 3 spots were awarded to Chipulu Chipeleme (1st place), Njavwa Mbale (2nd place) and in 3rd place were Chipego Njobvu and Marian Nawajwi respectively. The 1st place finalist will represent Zambia at the Chinese Bridge - Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College students in China.

Story by Chola chella