（Correspondent Dan Jin）The first Hubei Yixue Cup Business English Practical Skills contest for Colleges and Universities was held in HBUE. The contest lasted for three days from November 30 to December 1, 2018. He Huigang, vice President of HBUE, attended the opening ceremony. The team of the Central China Agricultural University won the Special Prize, and teams of HBUE and of Zhongnan University of Economics and Law won the First Prize.

The contest comprises two parts: one is online competition for software platform practical operations and the other one is live competition. The former is further classified into three modules: business theory foundation, practical operation and business knowledge synthesis; while the latter is English presentation and demonstration of business operation on the basis of the topic of cross-cultural marketing, along with a Q&A round, which is to evaluate the comprehensive ability of contestants’ instant critical thinking in business English.

Professor He Mingxia, dean of the School of Foreign languages, said that the contest strengthened the professional practical skills of business English majors, created a good atmosphere for learning professional business English and enhanced practical ability, playing an active role in optimizing training models for business English majors and deepening the reform of practical teaching in HBUE.

The contest was initiated by the International Business Research Association of the China International Trade Association, and held by the School of Foreign languages of HBUE and co-organized by Xiamen Yixue Software Company. Almost 60 contestants from 20 universities of Hubei province competed in the contest.