On April 2, the International Institute of Economics and Linguistics hosted the regional round of "Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students". 7groups of high school students from Irkutsk, Usolie-Sibirskoe, Chita, Kyakhta and Tynda took part in the Chinese language contest. They made presentations “Having learnt Chinese, you are able to find friends all over the world”. They also performed Chinese songs and dancing.  

– It has become a good tradition for ISU to host this contest for the most promising high school students from different parts of Siberia. In our country the interest to Chinese language is growing year by year. And it is not a surprise. China is a crucial partner for the Russian Federation. Recently we have seen the cooperation between the countries enlarge and embrace such spheres as trade, science, tourism, culture and education. We can be sure that the specialists able to speak Chinese will manage to find a good job. On the one hand, learning a foreign language is a very intensive work. On the other hand, it is the activity that helps to comprehend the history and traditions of other countries. While learning Chinese you find out more things about the civilization that is one of the most ancient ones, - Yulia Elokhina, the international office head, emphasized.

Contest results:
1st prize winner – “Gymnasium №4”, Chita;
2nd prize winner – school “Dialect”, Tynda;
3rd prize winner – Secondary school № 26, Irkutsk.