Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni visits a Chinese factory in Mukono, Uganda, March 9, 2019. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni toured four Chinese factories in the central Ugandan district of Mukono, promising to lower the cost of production in a bid to benefit those doing business in this east African country. (Xinhua)

KAMPALA, May 13 (Xinhua) -- Uganda has recently hosted for the fourth year a Chinese language competition for college students amid an growing interest among Ugandans to learn the Chinese language.

The 18th "Chinese Bridge" competition, an annual Chinese proficiency contest for foreign college students, was on Saturday concluded in Kampala, capital city of Uganda.

Under the theme "One World, One Family," the final round of the competition held under the guidance of the Confucius Institute at Makerere University was featured by presenting speeches in Chinese, question and answer session on China and talent shows on Chinese culture.

Seven finalists from Makerere University, Kyambogo University and Ndejje University competed in the final round.

The winner will travel to China to participate in the global competition while the first runner up will get an opportunity to watch the competition in China.

Other competitors won prizes and also were given certificates.

This is the fourth time the competition is held in Uganda.

File photo shows a Chinese teacher at a Chinese language class for Ugandan students. (Xinhua/Zhang Gaiping)

There is increasing interest among Ugandans to learn the Chinese language, and several schools in Uganda have started teaching the Chinese language, said Yang Yehua, director of administration at the Chinese embassy.

According to the National Curriculum Development Center (NCDC), the Ugandan and Chinese government have an understanding to train over 100 Ugandan language teachers, who are trained under the guidance of the Confucius Institute at Makerere University.

The first batch graduated last December after a nine-month course of learning Chinese. The teachers are the pioneers of Ugandan Chinese language teachers.

After their graduation, the country early this year rolled out the Chinese language syllabus for secondary schools.

The NCDC estimates that within the next four years about 60,000 students would have learned how to speak Chinese.

At the Confucius Institute at Makerere University, many university students and business people are enrolling to learn Chinese.

"Chinese is bringing us closer, serving as a platform of mutual understanding," said Xia Zhuoqiong, Chinese director at the Confucius Institute at Makerere University.