On July 17, RuanLinrong, a second-year CFLC student majoring in Japanese, finished 3rd in the finals of the 13th All-China Japanese Speaking Competition for University Students, held in Tokyo, Japan. She was among the 16 finalists who had advanced from regional preliminaries. She won the JFE Special Award for her flawless pronunciation, passionate delivery and outstanding critical thinking skills. Two years ago, another student from CFLC placed 2nd in the same competition.

The competition, one of the most prestigious contents for Japanese majors in China, was launched in 2006 and is now in its 13th year. The 12th edition of the competition, held last year, was included into the events marking the 45th anniversary of the normalization of Sino-Japanese relations. This year’s competition, with the approval of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was listed as one of the events commemorating the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Sino-Japanese Treaty of Peace and Friendship.

In May and June this year, a record number of 17,778 students from 234 universities throughout China took part in the preliminaries of the competition. The competition was jointly organized by the China Association for International Education Exchange, the Japan Economic News Agency, and the Japanese Chinese Professors Association. 

Cui Yueying from Shanghai Foreign Studies University claimed the championship of this year’s competition, while Wang Jing from Beijing University of Foreign Studies and Yu Minzheng of Guangdong University of Foreign Studies were runners-up. RuanLinrong from CFLC garnered the JFE Special Award. QiuZiqian from Tianjin Foreign Studies University won the Japan Airlines Special Award.