In January 2022, CIS Chinese-English bilingual secondary students competed in the inaugural Global Chinese Writing Competition. With over 2,000 competition entries from around the world, CIS students stood out and took home 7 notable awards including the championship.

The inaugural Global Chinese Writing Competition is aimed at young writers aged 12 to 19. Jointly organised by the Association for International Education Development and Research and the International Bilingual Experts Education Management, the competition aims to celebrate young learners' talent and passion for Chinese writing. You can read more about the five core objectives here.

Prestigious schools and educational institutions from around the globe, including St. Joseph’s Institution International School, Dulwich College Shanghai and the Chinese International Educators Association competed. CIS student winners accounted for one-third of all winners in the competition. Here are CIS’s results.

Global awards

• Outstanding writers: Zhang Hanwen and Li Zihan

Regional awards (non-native Chinese speaking countries and regions)

• Champion: Wang Yuhan
• First runner-up: Zhou Zihan
• Second runner-up: Gou Sihan

Star writers

• Li Jiayi
• Liu Shijie

This year’s themes centred on opportunities and challenges, personal happiness and the power of belief. Our students’ submissions impressed the judges with their rich imagination, strong expression, and appreciation for Chinese culture.

Reflections from CIS award winners

Hear from our award winners on what inspired their compositions.

“I wrote about the Covid-19 pandemic. I felt it was an opportune topic to express a different perspective about the lockdown we all went through, and highlight the positive takeaways we had from it. Certainly, being in lockdown and cooped up at home can be boring and miserable. But as it continued, I realised that dwelling on the downside wouldn’t change anything at all. It was our choice to make or break the experience. So, I began to consciously do things that were meaningful to me. This deliberate change in mentality and what I accomplished from my time in lockdown was what I documented in my essay. I hope to spread a positive mindset that we have the power to define our life.”

— Grade 8 student, Wang Yuhan (won the regional awards championship)

“In the past few years when the epidemic broke out, I have experienced a lot, learnt a lot, and gained a lot of fun from it. I wanted to share my takeaways and happiness with more people, so that maybe they can also find a way to feel fulfilled in their own lives. It makes me happy to be able to do that.”

— Grade 8 student Gou Sihan, second runner-up

“The topic of my article is the definition and understanding of happiness. After leaving China and my family to study alone here in Singapore, I have a deeper appreciation of family affection and have more spiritual dependence on my family. In my writing, I associated happiness with the concept of a family being together with osmanthus trees as an analogy for the relationship shared between my mother and me. The article is divided into three short stories, each expressing the changes in my understanding of happiness in the process of growing up. What remained constant is the closeness of our relationship, just that it has progressed and transformed with time. The composition not only expressed my understanding of happiness but also incorporated elements of family affection and growth.”

— Grade 11 student Li Jiayi, ‘star writer’ recipient

“I feel that deriving happiness and pleasure in life is essential for us all. Although my own perspective on happiness is not the utmost profound, I hope that my poetry conveyed joy and happiness to its readers.”

— Grade 10 student, Liu Shijie, winner of the ‘star writer’ award

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Congratulations to all students who participated!