Young voices to the fore as ideas and words are given full power

"I may not be able to contribute to groundbreaking advances in fields such as medicine or physics, but as a language learner I can wield language as a potent tool to aid those in need."

The competition combined two events: the Belt and Road Youth English Speaking Competition and the "21st Century Cup" National English Speaking Competition. The national grand finals were held in Taicang, Jiangsu province, from Tuesday to Friday.

Liu Baoxiang of Peking University won in the 28th "21st Century Cup" National English Speaking Competition's college group. Yin Yue of Central South University in Changsha, Hunan province, won in the youth group. And Leopold Martin Chen Lind, a German who is studying at Tsinghua University in Beijing, won the fifth Belt and Road Youth English Speaking Competition.

Tian Yihan, 19, a sophomore at China University of Political Science and Law in Beijing, who qualified for the final round of the "21st Century Cup" competition, fondly recalled her elementary school years when her English teachers often showed students videos of top contestants in the competition.

"It was during those moments that I developed a dream of some day stepping onto this stage myself."

Tian said she was pleasantly surprised by the attention the audience gave to her speech. "It was a powerful experience for me. I find it awesome to have such a platform where I can freely express and disseminate my ideas and opinions."

The primary goal of the "21st Century Cup" National English Speaking Competition, established in 1996, is to give young people the opportunity to have their voices heard on the global stage.