ISU Confucius Institute hosted the qualifying round for the all-Russian stage of the “Chinese Bridge” World Competition for schoolchildren of Irkutsk Consular District.

At the opening ceremony of the competition the participants were welcomed by ISU Rector Alexander Schmidt, Consul General of the PRC in Irkutsk Li Hai, Representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Alexey Kotelnikov, and Head of the Department of Vocational Education of the Ministry of Education of the Irkutsk Region Olga Khairulina.

Rector of ISU Alexander Schmidt:

Language plays a significant role in the development of cooperation between our countries. Every year, more and more people want to study Russian in China and Chinese in Russia. Currently, over 600 students at our university are studying Chinese on main educational programs. The number of people studying Chinese as part of additional educational programs is increasing every year. Chinese is studied not only by students, but also by schoolchildren and adults. The youngest learner is 11 years old, and the oldest is 60 years old.

2024 and 2025 have been declared Cultural Cross Years of Russia and China. It should be noted that Irkutsk State University is an important platform for educational and cultural exchanges between our countries. Every year, the university hosts various events bringing together Russian and Chinese students, as well as events open to Irkutsk residents. These include open lectures, calligraphy lessons and tea ceremonies. We hope that there will be even more participants in such events.

Winners among schoolchildren:

1st place – Ulyana Rakhvalova, student of the Tutoring Agency “Tvoi Potentsial” [Your Potential], Chinese Language Courses “No Accent!”, Irkutsk
2nd place – Kristina Luneva, student of the Multidisciplinary Language Gymnasium № 4, Chita
3rd place – Milana Voronina, student of the Chinese Language School “Nihao 03”, Ulan-Ude

Winners among junior schoolchildren:

1st place – Timofey Bezpyatov, student of the Chinese Language Center “ISU Confucius Institute”
2nd place – Olesya Khamaganova, student of the Gymnasium No. 1, Irkutsk
3rd place – Yaroslava Dronova, student of the Chinese Language Center “ISU Confucius Institute”

The students who took first and second places will participate in the All-Russian stage of the competition.

The founder of the “Chinese Bridge” World Competition is the Center for Language Education and Cooperation under the Ministry of Education of the PRC. Qualifying rounds have been held in Russia since 2012 in seven consular districts. The organizer of the qualifying rounds in Irkutsk is the Consulate General of the PRC, and the executor is the Chinese Language Center “ISU Confucius Institute”. The purpose of the qualifying round is to select contestants from the Irkutsk Consular District for the all-Russian stage of the competition, the winners of which will represent Russia in the final round in China.

The Irkutsk Consular District is represented by educational institutions of the Irkutsk Region, the Zabaykalsky Krai, the Republic of Buryatia, the Republic of Khakassia, and the Republic of Tyva.