Renmin University of China Successfully Hosted the 4th SFLEP Cup International Competence Contest for Young Talents from Beijing Universities and National Invitational Contest
DATE： 2025-12-03
From November 8 to 9, 2025, the final round of the 4th SFLEP (Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press) Cup International Competence Contest for Young Talents from Beijing Universities and National Invitational Contest were successfully held at Renmin University of China. The contest was guided by Higher Education Department of the Beijing Municipal Education Commission and organized by the College English Research Division of the Beijing Association of Higher Education, the College English Education Development Center for Universities in Beijing, and Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. It was co-organized by Beijing Education Association for International Exchange and hosted by the School of Foreign Languages, Renmin University of China. The judging panel comprised over ten experts and scholars from prestigious institutions including Peking University, Tianjin University, Jilin University, and Fudan University. Those who were invited to attend the awards ceremony included Wang Yi, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Vice President of Renmin University of China; Ding Yi, President and Editor-in-Chief of Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press; Li Shujing, Chairperson of the College English Research Division of the Beijing Association of Higher Education; and Zhang Xihua, Director of the College English Education Development Center for Universities in Beijing.
This year’s contest, under the theme “Building Resilience for Global Sustainable Development,” covered six key areas: economy, public health, urban development, culture, society, and technology. Contestants’ international competence was comprehensively evaluated through various segments, including issue analysis, proposal writing, poster design, on-site presentations, and Q&A sessions.
1. Successful Conclusion of the Beijing Municipal Final
On the afternoon of November 8, the final round of the 4th SFLEP Cup International Competence Contest for Young Talents from Beijing Universities concluded successfully at Lide Building, Zhongguancun Campus of Renmin University of China. Spanning seven months, the contest progressed through university-level preliminaries and municipal-level semifinals, ultimately selecting 28 teams from universities across the capital for the semifinals, with 36 contestants from 12 universities advancing to the final round.
In her address at the awards ceremony, Wang Yi emphasized that in the face of once-in-a-century transformations, universities must proactively address national strategic needs and commit to cultivating high-caliber international talents equipped with global vision, mastery of international rules, and strong cross-cultural communication skills. She noted that the contest’s theme closely aligned with global development demands and resonated with China’s goals of promoting high-quality development. The contestants fully demonstrated the global-mindedness and sense of responsibility emblematic of youth in the new era. She encouraged the young students to strengthen their ideals and convictions, dare to innovate, and actively engage in global sustainable development initiatives. By doing so, they can contribute more Chinese wisdom and resilient solutions to addressing global challenges and fostering a community with a shared future for humanity.
Ding Yi highly praised the outstanding performance of the contestants, noting that their professional analyses of complex global issues fully demonstrated Chinese youth’s conscious commitment to telling China’s stories well. With fluent foreign language proficiency and broad perspectives, the contestants integrated Chinese wisdom into global governance topics, vividly interpreting the essence of international competence among youth in the new era. President Ding emphasized that the exploration of sustainable development and the enhancement of international competence are endless journeys. He encouraged students to transform what they gained from the contest into a lasting driving force for personal growth and expressed his aspiration to collaborate with more universities in refining the contest platform, thereby contributing further to the implementation of the national strategy of strengthening the country with talents.
Li Shujing fully acknowledged the organizational efforts and outcomes of this year’s contest, urging students to leverage foreign languages skillfully in narrating China’s stories and to engage in international exchanges and global governance with rationality, confidence, and openness. She called on fellow educators across higher education institutions to treat the contest as a starting point, advancing the transformation of public foreign language education from mere language training to cultivating critical thinking and comprehensive abilities. This shift, she stressed, is essential to nurturing Chinese youth who can understand the world, communicate with the world, and help shape the world.
On behalf of the judging panel, Zhang Xihua delivered concluding remarks, highly commending the participating teams’ performance from three dimensions: patriotic devotion, global vision, and professional competence. She also offered detailed suggestions for improvement regarding presentation techniques, logical coherence of proposals, and poster design.
After a fair and impartial evaluation by the judges, teams from Renmin University of China and Capital Normal University won the Special Prize of the Beijing Municipal Final. In addition, teams from three universities received First Prizes, teams from seven universities earned Second Prizes, and teams from sixteen universities received Third Prizes. The China Foreign Affairs University team earned the Best Poster Award, while team from China University of Petroleum (Beijing) claimed the Best Proposal Award. Additionally, 28 universities received Outstanding Organization Awards, and 47 teachers were honored with Outstanding Advisor Awards.
The Special Prize of the Beijing Municipal Final
2. Successful Conclusion of the First National Invitational Contest
On the morning of November 9, the first SFLEP Cup National Invitational Contest on International Competence for University Young Talents successfully concluded at Lide Building, Renmin University of China. Upgraded for the first time to a national-level event, the contest attracted seven teams from universities outside Beijing, including those in Tianjin, Shanghai, Shandong, and Jilin, who competed with the two Special Prize-winning teams from Beijing. These nine elite teams gathered to deliberate on global issues, generating dynamic intellectual exchanges. The event commenced with opening addresses by Ding Yi, President and Editor-in-Chief of Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, and Tian Lili, Deputy Dean of the School of Foreign Languages at Renmin University of China.
After fierce competition, the team from Renmin University of China (advisor: Wang Xiaoli and Liu Qisheng) won the Special Prize of the First National Invitational Contest. Additionally, teams from three universities received First Prizes, five teams were awarded Second Prizes, the team from China People’s Police University received the Best Proposal Award and the team from Tianjin University received the Best Poster Award. Individual Outstanding Presence Awards were conferred to Xu Zizheng (Capital Normal University), Wang Yuqing (Renmin University of China), and Liang Zidong (Tianjin University). Furthermore, nine universities received Outstanding Organization Awards, and 14 teachers were honored with Outstanding Advisor Awards.
The Special Prize of the First National Invitational Contest
Wang Lisong, Dean of the School of Foreign Languages at Tianjin University, emphasized in his concluding comments that contestants should strive to “captivate the audience, tackle complex problems, comprehend questions precisely, challenge opponents effectively, withstand challenges, manage time well, and make up for deficiencies.” He hoped that the competition would enjoy continued growth and ever-greater success.
The successful hosting of the 4th SFLEP Cup International Competence Contest for Young Talents from Beijing Universities and National Invitational Contest has not only established a high-level platform for young students to exchange ideas and showcase their talents, but also opened up a new pathway for cultivating international talents through contest-driven learning and teaching. Through proposal design, English presentations, and cross-disciplinary thinking, contestants seamlessly integrated specialized knowledge with global concerns, demonstrating the sense of responsibility and wisdom characteristic of Chinese youth who maintain both local grounding and global vision in the new era. The event’s elevation to a national-level contest marks a crucial step in our university’s commitment to fostering international competence, and serves as a vivid reflection of the School of Foreign Languages’ long-standing educational philosophy of “global vision and patriotic devotion.” Moving forward, the School of Foreign Languages will further promote the transformation of foreign language education from a focus on language as a tool to the cultivation of critical thinking and key competences, thereby establishing a new paradigm for talent development that connects China and the world. Taking this contest as a new starting point, we look forward to witnessing more young students advance steadily along the path of understanding China and communicating with the world. By contributing their professional expertise to global governance, they will write a brilliant chapter for the youth of the new era in the great journey of building a community with a shared future for humanity.