Talented students from the Chinese mainland and from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan were applauded by professional judges and the audience alike for their interpretation skills demonstrated in the grand finale of the Ninth Cross-Strait Interpreting Contest, which was held at the University of Macau on Sunday.

After three rounds of competition, Tang Xuewen from Beijing Foreign Studies University won the grand prize. Gao Xin from Central South University, Shen Hsieh-Tao from Taiwan Normal University, and Li Lingfei from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies were awarded first prizes. Another eight contestants won second and 12 won third prizes in the final.

It was the first time that the contest's grand finale had been hosted in Macao.

Making an address at Sunday's opening ceremony, Ge Wai, vice-rector of UM, said the thriving tourism industry and the surge in international exhibitions and conferences taking place in Macao have increased the demand for professional interpreters in the city.

Ge said he believes that interpretation is vital for promoting economic growth, technological advancements and cultural exchanges, and he hopes the contest can serve as a platform for young talent to showcase their skills and inspire them to pursue their dreams in the industry.

In a prerecorded speech at the ceremony, Gao Anming, vice-president and editor-in-chief of the China International Communications Group and executive vice-president of the Translators Association of China, said that as a prestigious interpretation competition in the country, the Cross-Strait Interpreting Contest aims to foster interactions among university students from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

He said that a number of highly capable interpreters will stand out from the contest and play a critical role in strengthening the nation's capacity for translation and promoting international communication with their expertise.

The contest was initiated in 2009. This year's finale was co-hosted by the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at UM, the College of Foreign Languages and Cultures at Xiamen University, a renowned university in Fujian province, the Network on Assessment and Evaluation in Interpreting and the Macau Federation of Translators and Interpreters.

A total of 24 contestants who had won at regional contests attended the finale on Sunday.

The judging criteria included the ability to extract and transmit information, the quality of interpretation, presentation skills, as well as the quality of communication and overall performance.