Organized by the National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language - or Hanban - over the past decade, the Chinese Bridge competition has become a major channel for foreign students to learn Chinese language and culture.
The first Chinese Bridge competition was held in 2002. More than 100,000 students from over 70 countries have since participated in the preliminary competitions in their home countries and more than 800 have competed in the finals in China.
After winning preliminary rounds of the language competition Chinese Bridge in their home countries, 118 foreign university students from 60 nations arrived on July 13 for the finals in Central China's Hunan province.