In November 2013,the final rounds of the 19th“21st-Century Coca-ColaCup”National English Speaking Competition was held atHangzhou Normal University inZhejiang Province. NIT students, Liu Danlu and Zhou Jian, won the first and third prizes respectively. In addition, Mao Yinian, a teacher from NIT, was awarded thehonorary title of “Excellent Faculty Adviser”.

A diverse group of participants from 32 educational institutions in Zhejiang gathered for the finalsin Hangzhou after having won outover many other participants.The “21st-Century Coca-Cola Cup,”which is the most influential English-language speaking competition in China,has been held previously in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and Macao.Many international English teaching experts and examination agencies continue to give the competition high praise. It has also attracted widespread public attention and support from related government departments, business enterprises, educational institutions, and press agencies, not to mention the continued financial support from the Coca-Cola Corporation. In past years, severalfamous bilingual CCTV program hosts such as Liu Xin andRuiChengganghave won this competitions coveted firstprize.