On March 3, 2018, Consul General visited the Confucius Institute at the Wayne State University in Michigan and attended the 2018 “Michigan China Quiz Bowl” contest.

In his speech, Consul General Hong Lei congratulated the students on their achievements in learning Chinese. He also expressed his appreciation for American students’ enthusiasm in studying Chinese. He said that in today’s world, the relationship between China and the United States has become the most important bilateral relationship in the world. The common interests of the two countries are enormous. The two countries shoulder great responsibility of safeguarding world peace, prosperity and stability. Young people play a pivotal and irreplaceable role in the future development of China-US relations, which counts on a large number of young talents who understand the language and culture of each other, and who are actively involved in the development of bilateral relations. These young people can provide positive energy for our bilateral relations. I hope that all students present today can keep up their study of Chinese language, history, and culture so as to deepen their understanding of China and push forward China-US relations.

The “Michigan China Quiz Bowl” contest is an annual competition of Chinese language and culture held for non-native Chinese speakers. Competing teams are categorized into middle school group and high school group. Apart from Chinese language skills, contestants must also demonstrate their knowledge of Chinese culture and geography and compete in the “Learn a Chinese Phrase” video series section produced by the Confucius Institute at Wayne State University. The competition was intense and all the contestants demonstrated their strong Chinese language skills and command of China-related knowledge.