On July 25， the finals and award ceremony of the 2023 ‘Chongqing Meets Australia Youth Promotion Officer Competition was held at the Window for International Exchanges of Chongqing Culture & Tourism （WCIT）. This event was co-organized by the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Culture and Tourism Development， Wulong District Peoples Government， and Tourism Australia.

This years session kicked off in May， attracting nearly 10，000 primary school students. The final competition adopted a two-round English speech format. The 32 exceptional finalists showcased their speeches with passion， confidence， and great charisma， earning them resounding applause from the audience. In the end， Xu Xinyue， Yuan Youzhe， and Zhao Chenxi claimed first， second， and third place， respectively. They were awarded honorary certificates by the organizers and received generous prizes， including a set of round-trip air tickets to Australia and an all-inclusive tourism package in Australia. Experimental Primary School of Dadukou District， Chongqing DEPU Foreign Language School， Jiangbeizui Experimental School， Nanping Experimental Primary School， and Liangjiang New Area Peoples Primary School were awarded the “Best Organization Award”.

At the signing ceremony， Skyrail Rainforest Cableway from Cairns， Australia， signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Chongqing Wulong Tourism Industry Group Co.， Ltd. Moreover， Chongqing International Window Culture and Tourism Co.， Ltd. and the Travel Agency Branch of Chongqing Culture and Tourism Association signed a cooperative agreement for international tourism training. Representatives from Tourism Australia presented an award to the WCIT for the establishment of the “Chongqing Training Center for Aussie Specialist Program”. In addition， Chongqing Vocational College of Culture and Arts and Tourism Australia cooperated for the first time to hold the “Chongqing Meets Australia” Art Works Exhibition at the WCIT and arranged traditional intangible cultural heritage experiences such as tie-dyeing.

Ran Huazhang， Director-General of the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Culture and Tourism Development， highlighted that this event has successfully created a cultural and tourism carnival through collaborative planning， construction， and sharing between Chongqing and Australia. It has set a model for cultural and tourism exchange and cooperation， promoting both inbound and outbound activities， ultimately contributing to Chongqing becoming a world-renowned tourist destination.

Ms. Adelle Neary， Consul-General of Australia in Chengdu， expressed her gratitude to Chongqing for its strong support of the 2023 “Chongqing Meets Australia” event. She highlighted that the event provided an opportunity to strengthen friendly cooperation between Australia and Chongqing and emphasized that the Australian Consulate-General in Chengdu will continue to support this activity in the coming years.

By Yang Yan/The World and Chongqing

Photo/Chongqing Municipal Commission of Culture and Tourism Development