From September 11 to 13, 124 contestants from five continents competed in the 19th “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign Secondary School Students. After several rounds of intense competition in Chinese listening, writing, speech and Chinese cultural talent performances, Nigeria’s representative, Justina Uchechi Michael (17years old; Chinese name: Mai Yalan), from the Confucius Institute at Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), has distinguished herself with her impressive Chinese proficiency and mesmerizing stage performance, successfully advancing to the Global Top 30 and securing a place in the next round of the competition.

This marks the 13th time since 2018 that a contestant trained by the Confucius Institute at UNIZIK has reached the Global Top 30 of the “Chinese Bridge” competition, once again demonstrating the Institute’s achievements in Chinese language teaching and the cultivation of outstanding “Chinese Bridge” contestants.

What makes Justina’s achievement particularly remarkable is the short period of time she has been learning Chinese. While many contestants have studied Chinese for five or six years, and some have even spent years studying or living in China, Justina only began learning Chinese from scratch at the Confucius Institute at UNIZIK in March 2025, making her one of the contestants with the shortest Chinese-learning experience in this year’s competition.

In less than a year and a half, she has progressed from a complete beginner to the champion of the Nigerian national competition and now to a Global Top 30 contestant on the world stage of the “Chinese Bridge.”

From learning basic Chinese pronunciations and simple Chinese characters to confidently expressing herself in Chinese and showcasing her talents on an international stage, Justina’s rapid progress reflects not only her dedication and hard work, but also the Confucius Institute at UNIZIK’s long-standing commitment to high-quality Chinese language education and the development of outstanding students.

The 19th “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign Secondary School Students is still underway. Having successfully advanced to the Global Top 30, Justina will now face even stiffer competition in the next round.

We wish her every success in the upcoming stages and hope she will go even further, achieve another outstanding result, and continue to showcase on the global “Chinese Bridge” stage the enthusiasm and talent of young Nigerians in learning Chinese and discovering Chinese culture.

Mis Qin Fangfang, Teacher of Chinese to Speakers of Other Language (TCSOL), Confucius Institute at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria