The Portuguese qualifying round of the 25th "Chinese Bridge" Chinese Proficiency Competition was recently held at the University of Lisbon. The Chinese Ambassador to Portugal, Yang Yirui, participated in the event, together with the Rector of the University of Lisbon, Luís Ferreira, and the Chairman of the Bank of China's Lisbon Branch, Guo Zhiyao, among other guests, who delivered speeches at the ceremony. The event was attended by approximately 200 people, including 11 contestants from various Portuguese universities, as well as teachers and students.

In his speech, Ambassador Yang Yirui stated that the "Chinese Bridge" competition represents not only a linguistic bridge but also a bridge of understanding between civilisations and of bringing peoples closer together, promoting mutual trust, development and co-operation. He added that choosing the Chinese language represents an investment in the future, emphasising that China's modernisation process will continue to create opportunities and broad co-operation spaces for countries around the world.

The contestants took part in Chinese speech tests, knowledge questions and talent demonstrations, all under the theme "One World, One Family". A master's student from the University of Minho won first prize and will represent Portuguese university students at the 2026 worldwide final of the "Chinese Bridge" competition, which will take place in China.

(Source: Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Portuguese Republic, on 10 May)