Mart Veliste, winner of the "Understanding China Contest", poses for a photo in Budapest, Hungary, April 28, 2017. Mart Veliste, a student from University of Tartu, Estonia has won the international event, "Understanding China Contest", in Budapest on Friday. The aim of the contest is to raise awareness about China and the 16+1 mechanism throughout the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region. (Xinhua/Csaba Domotor)
BUDAPEST, April 28 (Xinhua) -- Mart Veliste, a student from University of Tartu, Estonia has won the international event, "Understanding China Contest", in Budapest on Friday.
The aim of the contest is to raise awareness about China and the 16+1 mechanism throughout the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region.
The 16+1 mechanism is a platform created in April 2012 by China and 16 CEE countries.
"I got interested in China in 2012. I had a course on Chinese politics, and I really loved it," Veliste, whose major is international relations, told Xinhua after the contest, adding that he also spent time in Shanghai from September to December in 2016 for exchanges.
Chinese ambassador to Hungary Duan Jielong said in his speech that the contest is a very meaningful event as it is the first of its kind in the CEE region with the theme of "Understanding China".
He said he believed the contest would help further enhance the understanding of the people from CEE countries towards China.
The contest had two rounds. The first, local round, selected national champions from sixteen CEE countries, based on an online trivia quiz on China. In the second, or the live round, all national champions presented their research papers on modern Chinese society, economy, as well as foreign and security policy.
A total of 10 students participated in the live round at the Corvinus University of Budapest, representing Macedonia, Poland, Hungary, Latvia, Czech Republic, Croatia, Montenegro, Slovakia, Serbia and Estonia.
