Bulgarian national qualifications of the 17th "Chinese Language Bridge", the world's major Chinese proficiency competition for foreign university students, were held here on Sunday.
Ten competitors from five universities participated in the event, organized by the Confucius Institute Headquarters, Confucius Institute in Sofia and the Chinese Embassy in Bulgaria.
Karolina Hristova from Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" won the competition and will represent Bulgaria at the final stage in China.
With her speech "The World as One Family," performance of Tai Chi with sword and perfect answers to questions related to Chinese language and culture, she won a total of 93.8 points out of 100 possible.
Maria Dekova from University of Ruse "Angel Kanchev", who came second with 89.8 points, will attend the finals in China as a spectator.
Hristova, 22, told Xinhua that she has been studying Chinese since 2010. In 2012, she won Bulgaria's "Chinese Bridge" competition for foreign secondary school students, and in 2017 took the second place at the "Chinese Bridge" for foreign university students.
The Chinese language learning program in Bulgaria was launched in 1953, just four years after the Balkan country recognized China.
