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A contestant gives a speech during the 18th Belgian "Chinese Bridge" competition in Bruges, the capital city of Belgium's West Flanders province, May 12, 2019. The 18th Belgian "Chinese Bridge" competition, an annual Chinese language and culture proficiency contest for college students, was held Sunday in Bruges, the capital city of Belgium's West Flanders province. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)

BRUSSELS, May 12 (Xinhua) -- The 18th Belgian "Chinese Bridge" competition, an annual Chinese language and culture proficiency contest for college students, was held Sunday in Bruges, the capital city of Belgium's West Flanders province.

Moira de Graef, a fifth-year student from KUL University (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven), won the first prize. She was subsequently enrolled in a one-year Chinese program at Sichuan University in Chengdu, southwest China.

Learning Chinese "is already useful now because it opens so many doors for me, and a lot of time I meet with people that I can talk to now because I know Chinese," said the winner. "It's a very good language to know."

"I hope that the Chinese Bridge Competition will attract an ever greater number of Belgian friends to learn Chinese, understand and love China," said Zhang Chi, charge d'affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Belgium

A total of eight candidates made it to Sunday's competition, which was divided into three parts: written comprehension, oral expression and artistic representation related to the Chinese culture.

The participants expressed their understanding and love of the Chinese culture through varied artistic forms including singing, music, dancing, operas, theatre, literature, acrobatics, calligraphy, painting and martial arts.

The Chinese Bridge Competition for International Students is an international competition organized by the Confucius Institute headquarters.