On the afternoon of June 21, 2016 “Shared Joy in Jiangsu” Chinese Speech Contest for Foreigners Final jointly sponsored by the Information Office of Jiangsu Provincial Government and Jiangsu Education Department, undertaken by Jiangsu Broadcasting Corporation, was held grandly at Jiangsu TV Station. 16 contestants selected by Jiangsu University, Jiangsu Normal University, Suzhou University, Nanjing University of Science and Technology advanced into the final. They are respectively from Korea, Turkmenistan, the US, France, Tajikistan, Myanmar, Nigeria, Ukraine, Rwanda,Indonesia, Thailand etc.

The Studio of Jiangsu Entertainment Channel was wholly packed with the audience. On the orderly stage, the excited contestant raced to answer the questions raised by the anchorperson ranging from Chinese cuisine to the history of Jiangsu province. The fluent answering of these questions by the contestants won a burst of applause from the audience in the Studio. Then at the talent show stage the contestants impressed the audience most by their wonderful performance of traditional Chinese talents and Chinese Kungfu they had mastered. In thematic speech they each delivered finally, the contestants told their own stories in fluent Chinese about Jiangsu, or about China at large.

Through a fierce competition, Park Chun-hye, a Jiangsu University student from South Korea won a first prize in the final with her speech entitled “Happy Jiangsu, Joyful Chinese”. Another Jiangsu University student from Turkmenistan named Jose Khabarov won a third prize with the topic “China, How Can I Not Love You!” Jiangsu University also won the the Best Organization Award at the Chinese Speech Contest. Ms. Ren Xiaofei, Director of the Language and Culture Center and Dean of the School of Liberal Arts, accepted the award personally on the stage. Si Jinquan, Deputy Director of the Publicity Department of Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee and Director of the Information Office of Jiangsu Provincial Government awarded the certificates and trophies to winners of the first prize.

The 2016 “Shared Joy in Jiangsu” Contest lasted more than 2 months. Themed at “ Happy Jiangsu, Joyful Chinese”, the contest inspired foreign students to learn the Chinese language actively and to experience the Chinese culture personally, in the meanwhile providing a platform for them to demonstrate the way they had grown in China and improved their Chinese proficiency. To sum up, the contest is truly a melting pot of the Chinese and foreign cultures.