Passport to success

Hosts Chen Jiehao and Rick O'Shea at the speaking contest. [Photo by Zou Hong/China Daily]

Expanding horizons

Rick O'Shea, a Beijing-based US writer, conceptual artist and freelancer, has been involved in the competition for around a decade, working as host in the competitions. He thinks participation is the key.

"Any kind of national English-speaking competition in China gives people something to work for, something to look forward to," he says.

This was certainly true for 25-year-old Communication University of China graduate Chen Jiehao, who became the grand champion in 2012.

Chen Jiehao was exposed to the 21st Century English National Speaking Competition when she was in primary school.

Back then, she lived in a southern Chinese city which didn't offer adequate English-language learning resources. But from watching the CDs of the previous competitions, she got to see some of the top young public speakers in the country.

"Seeing them makes you feel there is a possibility that your English can be as good as theirs," she says. "It also gives you a direction to learn English and a goal to pursue."

She later participated the competition's high school and college categories. This took her to Hong Kong, Macao and London, where she saw peers from different backgrounds leading different lives.

"Since childhood, this competition allowed me to see or mingle with the cohort who excel in English," she says. "From them, you see a variety of possibilities opening up in front of them, which enables you to see things much further yourself."

Chen Jiehao has developed an abiding love for telling stories about China. She says: "I have always been hoping to raise some different voices about China." Motivated by this, she jumped into the media industry after graduation. She now works as a researcher at The Economist's Beijing bureau.