Four Tanzanian university students on Wednesday emerged as winners of the 24th "Chinese Bridge" Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students worldwide.

The competition, organized by the Confucius Institute at the University of Dar es Salaam, featured 16 participants from the university's institute, the Mwalimu Nyerere Memorial Academy, the Dar es Salaam University College of Education, and the Dr. Salim Ahmed Salim Center for Foreign Relations.

Kulthum Athuman Maftah, 20, from the Confucius Institute at the University of Dar es Salaam, was named overall winner.

"I have no words to express my joy after being declared the winner. This victory has left an indelible mark on my academic journey," said Maftah, a first-year student pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Education, English, and Chinese.

"My ambition is to be fluent in Chinese because it holds the key to employment opportunities. I encourage my fellow Tanzanian youth to learn Chinese because it is now a global language," said Maftah.

Maftah will compete in the global finals in May with the second-, third-, and fourth-place winners, also from the University of Dar es Salaam.

The competition tested participants' Chinese language proficiency in speaking, reading, writing, and listening. It also included cultural performances such as singing, poetry recitation, kung fu demonstration, and knowledge of China.

Rose Upor, acting deputy vice chancellor of the University of Dar es Salaam, praised Confucius Institutes for strengthening cultural and educational exchange between China and Africa, emphasizing that learning Chinese will boost employment prospects and there are more than 200,000 Chinese speakers and over 500 Chinese companies in Tanzania.

Mussa Hans, Tanzanian director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Dar es Salaam, said the competition provides a global platform for young people to showcase their language skills and deepen cultural understanding.

His Chinese counterpart, Zhang Xiaozhen, noted that more than 1.5 million students from over 150 countries have participated in this preliminary competition. "More than 5,000 top participants have gone to China to participate in the continental competitions and the world finals, with over 100 million people worldwide following this event," Zhang added.