On May 23, the 24th "Chinese Bridge" Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students in Ethiopia was held in the Ras Mekonnen Hall of Addis Ababa University. The Chinese Embassy in Ethiopia, hosted by the Confucius Institute at Addis Ababa University and the Confucius Institute at the Ethiopian Federal Vocational and Technical Training College, held the finals of the competition in Ethiopia. Chen Hai, Chinese Ambassador to Ethiopia, Mr. Sileshi Girma, State Minister for Tourism of Ethiopia, Dr. Jeilu Oumer, Vice President of Addis Ababa University, and Mr. Mebratu Chalchisa, representative of the president of the Ethiopian Federal Vocational and Technical Training College, attended the event and delivered speeches. More than 100 people including representatives of Chinese companies, media from both countries, teachers and students of the Confucius Institute attended the event.

Ambassador Chen Hai said in his speech that Chinese, as the language with the largest number of native speakers in the world and the working language of international organizations such as the United Nations, is becoming one of the languages that people from all over the world are keen to learn, and Chinese learners around the world are becoming friendly messengers of exchanges between China and foreign countries. The "Chinese Bridge" Chinese competition has built a bridge for exchanges between China and foreign countries with language, and has played a unique role in promoting cultural exchanges and people-to-people exchanges between China and foreign countries. It is hoped that more Ethiopian youth will learn Chinese, get closer to China, witness China's development and prosperity and the deepening of China-Ethiopia relations with their own eyes, and make positive contributions to China and Africa working together to promote modernization and build an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era.

The Ethiopian guest gave a speech, thanking China for its long-term and valuable support for Chinese education in Ethiopia. He said that the continuous development of Chinese education in Ethiopia has built a bridge for learning and exchanges between Chinese and Ethiopian youth and the growth of Ethiopian talents, and promoted the mutual learning of civilizations between the two countries. All sectors of Ethiopia will work hand in hand with China to deepen educational cooperation and jointly write a new chapter in the friendship between the two countries.

The competition consisted of Chinese speeches, knowledge quizzes, and Chinese talents. The contestants closely followed the theme of "One World, One Family", shared their experiences and insights in learning Chinese, answered questions about Chinese cultural knowledge on the spot, and also demonstrated Chinese talents such as clapper talk, tongue twisters, martial arts, calligraphy, painting, songs, opera, dance, and flute solo. After fierce competition, Mandefro Simegnew Asnake (Shen Yong) and Kaleab Sime Girma (Huang Jun) stood out from 14 contestants and won the special prize and first prize of the competition respectively. They will represent the Ethiopian competition area to go to China to participate in the 2025 "Chinese Bridge" World Chinese Proficiency Competition for College Students Global Finals and Observation Finals, and compete with Chinese learners from all over the world.

Since the "Chinese Bridge" Chinese competition was held in Ethiopia, it has become an important platform for Ethiopian Chinese learners to show their talents and exchange knowledge. As of this year, the "Chinese Bridge" Chinese competition for Ethiopian college students and middle school students has been held for eight and two sessions respectively, and a total of 20 outstanding students have been recommended to participate in or observe the finals in China, and have won good results such as the Best Style Award and the Excellent Eloquence Award.