Betul Akcakaya (L, Front), a student from Izmir University of Economics, receives her certificate after winning the 17th Chinese proficiency competition for college students in Turkey in Istanbul, Turkey, on April 28, 2018. The 17th Chinese proficiency competition for college students in Turkey was held on Saturday in Istanbul, in which Betul Akcakaya from Izmir University of Economics beat 24 others to qualify her for the finals in China. (Xinhua/He Canling)

ISTANBUL, April 28 (Xinhua) -- The 17th Chinese proficiency competition for college students in Turkey was held on Saturday in Istanbul, in which Betul Akcakaya from Izmir University of Economics beat 24 others to qualify her for the finals in China.

The written test produced 25 contestants, who then entered a speech contest and a talent show that were not allowed to last more than two and three minutes respectively. In speeches, the contenders spoke of their feelings about the beauty of the Chinese language, shared their dreams and their contacts with Chinese friends.

For Maide Neslisah Akkaya from Erciyes University, it was difficult for her to learn Chinese at the beginning, but she found herself more and more interested in the language and could better experience its beauty as she continued her learning, including its unique tone. She plans to pursue her graduate studies in China.

Talent show was performed in a variety of forms, like guitar playing, singing and dancing, martial art, paper-cut, local Chinese drama, drawing and such Chinese folk arts as crosstalk and two-man comic show.

Peony drawing by Akcakaya won praise as a talent never shown before by others and she drew well, said Zhang Xiaoyi, a judge and Chinese teacher with the Confucius Institute of Yeditepe University, where the competition was held.

In addition, Akcakaya did well in her speech in terms of logic, fluency, pronunciation and manner, making her the best in overall performance although she did not lead in all the three links, said Zhang.

Akcakaya voiced her joy at being the No. 1, saying she is aspiring to be a translator of good Chinese film and TV programs into Turkish and hold an expo of her Chinese paintings some day.

"People have to learn each other's languages so that they can communicate with each other and so that peace could be possible," Bedrettin Dalan, Yeditepe's founding president, told the audience before the contest kicked off.

Cui Wei, the Chinese consul general in Istanbul, laid emphasis on the role of language learning in promoting communications between countries, just as the three Confucius Institutes in Istanbul have been serving as bridges in helping Turkish college students learn Chinese.

As friendly countries, the Turkish and Chinese governments are integrating their Belt and Road and Middle Corridor initiatives and set to develop cooperation on more fields and projects, thus offering more platforms and opportunities for Turkish students who speak Chinese, understand China and are ready to help advance bilateral ties, said Shi Ruilin, the cultural counselor with the Chinese Embassy in Turkey.

The contest was jointly sponsored by ICBC Turkey, a subsidiary of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and Huawei Turkey.