Xia Yuanjie

szrbgracexia@126.com

STANDING out of 800 or so contestants, Liu Jie, a parenting blogger and entrepreneur, took home the first prize at the Speak Shenzhen English Competition 2021 finals, which wrapped up at Shenzhen Media Group Building in Futian District yesterday afternoon.

The competition, hosted by the Foreign Affairs Office of the Shenzhen Municipal Government and organized by the Shenzhen Foreign Affairs Office Service Center, aims to promote Shenzhen’s image and to convey the city’s warm calling for talents.

Yang Cuier from Hong Kong and Wang Jie, a primary school teacher, walked away with the second and third prizes.

The contest attracted participants from all walks of life, with 12 making it to the finals, which required finalists to deliver a three-minute speech themed “Live Up to the Mission of Unfolding a New Age” and a 90-second impromptu speech answering questions about artificial intelligence, e-sports, China’s three-child policy, among others.

Cao Saixian, director-general of the city’s foreign affairs office, said that internationalization construction is not only about improving people’s impression of Shenzhen citizens, but also about creating an atmosphere of internationalization.

Huang Youyi, former deputy chief of the China Foreign Languages Publishing Administration, said the event is beneficial to enhancing China’s international communication capacity. “It is important to tell China’s story to the world via English,” Huang said.

The first prize winner echoed Huang’s opinions, saying that “The best way to tell a China story is to tell a specific, true and personal story.” Her speech about the story of her grandfather, who is an excellent CPC member, touched audiences. “Although the topic is very broad, the speech should be written from a very small perspective,” Liu said. “First of all, you have to make sure that the story is true, is personal and that you also really feel the true emotions in it.”