The Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council, the People’s Government of Beijing Municipality, the All-China Youth Federation and Shougang have jointly held a Chinese singing contest for overseas Chinese. On August 8, exactly the 9th anniversary of the Opening Ceremony of the 29th Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, the award ceremony of the “Cultures of China Water Cube Cup Chinese Songs Contest for Overseas Chinese was held at the Water Cube. Mr. Qiu Yuanping, Director General of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council delivered a speech. Officials of the central government and the People’s Government of Beijing Municipality including Tan Tianxing, Guo Jun, Qi Jing and Cheng Hong attended the ceremony and presented awards to the winners.

Mr. Qiu Yuanping mentioned in his speech that the theme of the contest is to “gather at the Water Cube, cheerfully express our love for China and jointly support the Winter Olympic Games”, and that we came here not only for awards, but also to show our affection for our compatriots and our common expectation of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games. I hope more overseas Chinese will participate in this event and sing songs for a peaceful world and the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

The 2017 Cultures of China Water Cube Cup Chinese Songs Contest for Overseas Chinese is a large event of public benefits for the exchange of overseas Chinese, which is influential across society and the globe. Over 10 thousand singers from 28 countries participated in 43 overseas divisions of the contest. Both the number of overseas divisions and that of the participants hit a record high.

The champion came out after several rounds of competition, i.e. the preliminary, the intermediary, the semifinal and the final. In the teenager group, Indonesian singer Zhang Youyan won the gold medal, Thai singer Liu Meilin and Malaysian singer Chen Xueyang won the silver medals, Toronto singer Hao Yujie, Melbourne singer Lin Yage and Indonesian singer Huang Rou’en won the bronze medals. In the adult group, Malaysian singer Chen Ruohan won the gold medal, Melbourne singer Liu Xinyi and Sydney singer Cheng Siyan won the silver medals, South Korean singer Li Heping, South African singer Zhang Xi and Singaporean singer Chen Junping won the bronze medals. Some overseas organizers were presented the Best Organizer Award and the Excellent Organizer Award at the award ceremony.

The ceremony was divided into three sections: Heart of China, Love for China and Chinese Dream. It started with a performance named “I Love You China”. Over 100 singers appeared onstage one after another including famous domestic and foreign artists such as Warren Mok and Sa Dingding, giving fabulous performances through songs, the Beijing Opera and traditional Chinese music. All the final participants together sang the song “Meet Again”, a Chinese song for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games Bid, and offered their blessing to the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, making the party reach its climax.  

The dream of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games connects the whole world and arouses echoes in the hearts of Shougang’s employees. No other enterprises are so closely related to the Olympics as Shougang. In 2016, the Organizing Committee of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games established its office in the Shougang Industrial Park. On February 28, 2017, Shougang signed the Cooperative Framework Agreement on Preparing for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games and Building the National Sports Industry Demonstration Zone with the General Administration of Sport of China. Shougang plans to convert its old workshop buildings into training fields for national teams in order to ensure the training of short-track speeding skating, figure skating, curling, ice hockey and other sports. In addition, it will support the relevant projects of constructing the Winter Olympic Games Square and improve the comprehensive supporting service functions for the core area of the Winter Olympic Games. Employees of Shougang are all proud of their significant responsibilities and glorious missions to ensure the smooth preparation for the Winter Olympic Games and to contribute as much as possible for an extraordinarily spectacular Winter Olympic Games. Co-organizing the 2017 Culture of China Water Cube Cup Chinese Songs Contest for Overseas Chinese, Shougang not only fulfilled its social duties as a large state-owned enterprise, but also exhibited its strong affection for the Olympics and its determination to provide help for the Winter Olympic Games.