The 6th Chinese Bridge Award for the Chinese Proficiency Competition was held in Changchun City in northeast Jilin Province on August 3, 2007. Competitors from the United States, Indonesia, and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) took the first three places for their speeches on "an open China to host the Olympics." The three winners will be given full scholarships and return tickets for their continued Chinese studies.

Chosen among 102 competitors from 52 countries, the three prize winners have been honored as "envoys of the Chinese language." Another 17 contestants ranked second and third class, respectively. Five other competitors were rewarded for their excellent performances.

Statistics revealed that since the Bridge Cup Award for Chinese language proficiency was first launched in 2002, about 30,000 people from more than 50 countries have participated with 381 advancing to the final competition held in China.

In the presence of 25 foreign ambassadors to China at the opening ceremony, Xu Jialu,Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, addressed the closing ceremony on the evening of August 6.

The three-week program is structured to enhance mutual understanding and exchange, and is sponsored by the Office of Chinese Language Council International, and organized by the Jilin Provincial Education Department.

(China.org.cn)