The first Hong Kong Primary and Secondary School Mandarin Chinese Culture Competition was held

 Hong Kong, June 12 (Xinhua) The award ceremony of the first "Purple Thorn Culture Cup" Chinese Culture Putonghua competition for primary and secondary schools was held in The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on Monday.

It was reported that the competition was held from May to June, and 80 primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong signed up to participate. The aim of the competition is to enhance the interest and ability of young people in learning mandarin and promote their understanding and identification with Chinese culture.

The Education Bureau of the HKSAR Government has been committed to improving students' Putonghua ability. Apart from classroom learning, schools are also encouraged to organize Putonghua learning activities so that students can learn and use putonghua at the same time, said Ms Joanna Choi, deputy Secretary for Education. In the future, the HKSAR Government will increase resources to create more opportunities for teachers and students to exchange views with the Mainland and stimulate students' interest in learning Putonghua.

Kenneth Fok, a member of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, said that in recent years, it is good to see that more Hong Kong people are willing to speak Mandarin and are more willing to contact mainland culture. The outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan supports Hong Kong in developing a cultural and art exchange center with other countries, which is one of Hong Kong's strengths. The people of Hong Kong should shoulder the historic mission of building a strong culture and give full play to Hong Kong's role as a cultural link between China and the West.

Fu Wei joint publishing group chairman, said in Hong Kong's return to the motherland the 25th anniversary, recite this match material chooses the Chinese classical poetry discourse, fully reflects the substance to carry forward the Chinese culture, promoting the development of Hong Kong, helps stimulate Hong Kong's small and medium-sized students' interest in learning mandarin, enhance the young generation of Hong Kong to the Chinese culture and national conditions of China's understanding and cognition.

The competition is organised by Bauhinia Cultural Group and co-organised by United Publishing Group and the China Education and Cultural Exchange Foundation.