My 2 cents

I was invited by Xian Jiao Tong University to attend the kick off meeting of China's first International English Contest (IEC). The meeting was held in Beijing and organizers from different cities and provinces were present, there were also representatives from the British Embassy and American Embassy. The purpose of IEC is to select the best candidates from primary school, secondary school and universities to enter the contest and train them to become student ambassadors of China, and they will be showing people from other countries about China, its people, its culture and also some local speciality of regions where the student comes from. The contest is supported by China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The final contest will be held in Beijing at the end of 2009 and the winners will be going to UK visiting London and Cambridge to promote Chinese culture. I think this is a very meaningful event and is highly supported by the government. Official link