Five to represent HK in national English-speaking contest

At the award ceremony, Hong Kong's Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung Yun-hung said he hoped the experience of the contestants and their accomplishments will continue to inspire more young people to participate in this prestigious competition.

"The 21st century cup competition indeed resonates closely with the key learning goals of our school curriculum. Through school education, we thrive to equip and develop our students as effective 21st century learners, we attach great importance to their performance in bilingual and trilingual communication... We also encourage them to acquire good understanding of different issues, that would have an impact on their daily lives," Yeung said.

"It is our mission [to teach] Hong Kong students to be well informed and responsible citizens with a sense of global and national identity as well as accomplished individuals with positive values and attitudes," said Yeung.

Also addressing the awards ceremony, Zhou Li, deputy chief editor of China Daily, and publisher and editor-in-chief of China Daily Asia Pacific, said the company held the 21st Century National English Speaking Competition "with an eye on the future".

"We, China Daily, have taken it as our mission to help the preparation of young people for the future. We have always been committed to promoting English language education," said Zhou. "We wish all of our award-winning speakers good luck and great success in the forthcoming competitions and in achieving all their dreams in the future," Zhou added.