ROME, May 3 (Xinhua) -- Four Italian college students beat three others in the preliminary Italian round of the 7th "Chinese Bridge" language proficiency competition on Saturday.

    The four students will go to China to attend the semi-final of the worldwide Chinese-language proficiency contest, which is designed for foreign college students, to be held in June in Changsha, capital of China's Hunan Province.

    The theme of this year's event is "Olympic Excitement, Chinese Fun."

    Seven female Chinese-language learners attended the contest in the Confucius Institute at the University of Rome.

    After three rounds of contests, including speech delivery, a talent show and quiz, Giulia Falato and Neomi Rausa from the University of Rome, Alice Giusto from the University of Venice and Rossella Cervello from the University of Milan won their entry to the semi-final to be held in June in Changsha, capital of China's Hunan Province.

    The annual "Chinese Bridge" competition was initiated in 2002 with the aim of expanding exchange and cooperation between China and the rest of the world.

    The Chinese language proficiency competition has become an important platform for college students around the world to learn the Chinese language and know more about the Asian country.

    Statistics show that more than 30 million people overseas are learning the Chinese language.