Nicol Yong Jia Jia from Malaysia, winner of the Belt and Road Youth English Speaking Competition and the China Daily "21st Century Cup" International English Speaking Competition, delivers her speech during the competition in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, on March 24, 2019. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

An international English-speaking competition aimed to help youths from diversified backgrounds gain a deeper understanding of each other's countries and cultures through language and cultural exchanges was held in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, on Saturday and Sunday.

The Belt and Road Youth English Speaking Competition and China Daily "21st Century Cup" International English Speaking Competition, jointly held by China Daily, Hangzhou Municipal Government and the English-Speaking Union (ESU), attracted 31 students from 30 countries and regions.

Themes of the prepared speeches for the contestants were "Let us be True to One Another" and "The Great Truth is Simple", to inspire them to share their points of view on a shared future and promote communication through competitions and exchanges in response to the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, according to organizers.

Nicol Yong Jia Jia from Malaysia won the championship and Chen Qiyu from China was awarded second prize in the final held at the Hangzhou International Expo Center on Sunday.

Weng Tiehui, vice-minister of education; Zhu Guoxian, publicity chief of Zhejiang province; Zhou Jiangyong, Party secretary of Hangzhou; and Zhou Shuchun, publisher and editor-in-chief of China Daily, presented the awards to the winners.

Qu Yingpu, deputy editor-in-chief of China Daily, said that young people hold the key to the enhancement of people-to-people ties, and in this competition, young contestants shared their splendid stories about the Belt and Road and China's New Era. 

"We can hope it's a sign that the BRI has been well received and embraced by the international community. We also appreciate the extraordinary performance of these confident young speakers," Qu said.

"By co-hosting the competition in order to build a new platform for deep and candid exchanges between young people in both China and the BRI countries and regions, we hope they can contribute their visions and wisdom to pursuing the BRI and building a community with a shared future," he said.