Emirati to display language proficiency in China contest

An Emirati student will visit China next year after winning the Chinese Bridge Proficiency Competition for foreign high school students organised by the Confucius Institute at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi recently.

Khalid Hamid Al Hanaee of Hamdan Bin Zayed School will go to China as the UAE’s student representative to participate in the final international competition.

Abdul Malek Al Hakem and Hussain Al Hammadi, also from Hamdan Bin Zayed School, won second place and Wafa Rohan Khaleghian, Hareb Al Zahr and Ruqaya Al Hassani from the same school won third place in the competition that saw the participation of 26 Emirati students from 13 public schools that teach Mandarin as part of the curriculum.

Lin Yaduo, deputy head of the mission at the Chinese Embassy in Abu Dhabi, said: “Mastering the Chinese language is the key to discerning China’s rapid development train. It is the world’s second largest economy and has the world’s largest industrial, trade and foreign exchange reserves.”

Fatma Al Bastaki, director of Hamdan Bin Zayed School, said two students from her school, who won the competition last year, had the opportunity to visit Kunming city in China and compete with students from 105 other countries.