The final round of the 4th China National Japanese Speech Contest was held successfully on July 13th 2009 in Tokyo. Tang Benyuan, Minister Counselor of Chinese embassy to Japan and Kita Tsuneo, President of Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Inc. attended the opening ceremony of the final and delivered speeches. CEAIE Deputy Secretary General Lin Zuoping led a guiding team to Tokyo for the final.

16 college students participated in the final contest. In their speeches on the topics “What do Chinese and Japanese Learn from Each Other” and “My Experience as a Volunteer”, contestants expressed wishes that China and Japan should learn from each other for mutual benefit and common development. Wang Lu from Dalian Institute of Foreign Languages won the top prize, two contestants, one from Beijing Foreign Studies University and the other from Liaoning Normal University took the second place. The Sponsorship Prize and Jury Special Prize were rewarded to the other contestants. The audience was deeply moved by the speeches. Xinhua News Agency, Nihon Keizai Shimbun and some other major media in Japan reported the contest.

Mr. Lin Zuoping addressed the opening ceremony on behalf of the event organizers. He stressed that the future of Sino-Japanese friendship depends on youth. As a non-governmental organization conducting international exchanges and cooperation of education, CEAIE sponsored this Japanese Speech Contest in order to promote the youth exchanges between the two countries and to enhance mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples, especially the young people. This year's contest achieved this goal successfully, Mr. Lin commented.

After the contest, the contestant delegation paid a visit to Mr. Nikai Toshihiro, Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry and President of Congressmen League of Japan-China Friendship. Mr. Nikai spoke highly of the significance of the speech and encouraged the students to contribute to the cooperation between the two countries in areas of environmental protection, energy conservation and agriculture etc..

The preliminary section of the 4^th China National Japanese Speech Contest was held from May 9^th to June 7^th 2009 in eight regions across China. Nearly 8,000 students from a total of 187 higher educational institutions participated, which is the biggest number in the history of the Contest.