Key takeaways
- Three consecutive editions reaching 111 to 114 countries, making it the largest short video competition in Chinese language learning worldwide
- 1,600+ entries submitted and 1,080 shortlisted, with 300,000+ likes and an audience reach of 18 million+ during the showcase
- Co-hosted by Chinese Testing International, the Tsinghua University Southeast Asia Center and Fudan University, with support from 300+ universities and institutions
- AKI carries the full workflow: cross-border registration, entry submission, dual-platform voting, expert judging and results announcement
- The 6th edition in 2026 is voting now on the AKI platform, running in parallel on Bilibili and YouTube
What does a truly “global competition” mean? It means participants spread across 114 countries and regions; it means their entries are published at the same time on Bilibili and YouTube; it means tens of thousands of people hitting the same page at once during voting and review, and all of it coordinated through a single unified digital platform.
The HSK Chinese Short Video Contest is organized by Chinese Testing International (CTI) — the organization that administers the HSK (Chinese Proficiency Test) worldwide — and co-hosted with the Tsinghua University Southeast Asia Center and the School of International Cultural Exchange at Fudan University and other leading academic institutions, has become the most influential annual event in International Chinese education. Behind it the AKI platform has managed end-to-end digital operations from registration to voting across three consecutive editions.
1. Three Editions: From 111 Countries to 114, the Scaling Up of a Global Chinese-Language Competition
Launched in 2021, the HSK Short Video Contest has worked closely with the AKI platform since its 4th edition in 2024. The data across the three editions shows clearly how a global competition keeps growing on a digital platform:
| Dimension | 4th Edition 2024 | 5th Edition 2025 | 6th Edition 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Theme | Chinese as a Companion, Soaring Toward Dreams | Sharing a Smart Future with HSK | See the World Through Chinese |
| Co-organizers | Tsinghua University Southeast Asia Center | Tsinghua SEA Center + Fudan base | Fudan University base |
| Countries covered | 111 | 114 | Submissions closed, voting open |
| Submissions | 1500+ | 1600+ | To be announced |
| Shortlisted | 1,068 | 1,080 | To be announced |
| Showcase likes | 200,000+ | 300,000+ | To be announced |
| Audience reach | 14 million+ | 18 million+ | To be announced |
| Supporting institutions | 300+ universities | 300+ universities | — |
| Award venue | Tsinghua University | ||
Three trends run through all three editions: participant scale keeps expanding (from 111 to 114 countries, with submissions up 7%), reach is amplifying faster (likes up 50% and audience reach up 29%), academic partnerships keep deepening (from a single partner institution to two jointly built bases, and now to Fudan University taking sole charge).
The digital foundation carrying this global competition — the registration system, the entry submission channel, the Bilibili and YouTube voting pages and judge review management — has run on the AKI platform across all three editions.
2. A Voting System for 114 Countries: How AKI Supports Cross-Border Competitions
The HSK Short Video Contest is far more complex than a typical competition. Its core challenge is that it is cross-border, cross-time-zone and cross-platform:
Challenge 1: Cross-Border Registration and Entry Submission
Participants come from 114 countries and regions including Mongolia, Russia, Thailand, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines and Indonesia. Each one registers through the AKI platform and uploads a short video entry, so the platform has to work across the network conditions, device types and browsers of many different countries.
Overseas test centers such as the Philippine Chinese Education Center coordinate everything from distributing registration forms to collecting and submitting entries, and the AKI platform gives these organizations a single entry point for submission and management, ensuring that every cross-border entry lands in one system.
Challenge 2: Synchronizing Voting Across Two Platforms
Voting runs simultaneously on Bilibili for audiences in China and YouTube for overseas audiences, two platforms running in parallel. AKI has to aggregate and present the like counts from both platforms for the judges. At the 5th edition, the two platforms together received more than 300,000 likes, and voting for the 6th edition is under way.
This means the voting system has to handle high-concurrency traffic while keeping data synchronized and displayed across platforms in real time.
Challenge 3: Multi-Role Collaborative Judging
Judging runs through online voting and expert review in parallel. Expert judges from Chinese Testing International, Tsinghua University, Fudan University and other institutions score the shortlisted entries on the AKI platform, which has to support separate judge logins, blind review and score aggregation.
Key capability: A competition spanning 114 countries effectively requires a digital platform that combines global reach, multilingual support, high-concurrency capacity and cross-platform synchronization. The AKI platform has demonstrated these capabilities across three consecutive editions.
3. Voices From Around the World: First-Hand Experience From Mongolia, the Philippines and Chinese Universities
The value of the HSK Short Video Contest shows up in what each participant actually experiences. Below is a summary of public statements from participants in different countries and different roles:
🏆 First Prize: Anqi, Khishig School, Mongolia
In my video I told the story of learning Chinese since first grade, with all the rewards and joy as well as the difficulties and challenges. The path was not always easy, but I never gave up. That persistence is what keeps me improving. I hope my story encourages other learners of Chinese.
Anqi's story is a typical HSK participant profile: someone from a non-Chinese-speaking country who uses a short video to tell a personal learning story and is seen by a global audience through the competition platform.
🏫 Outstanding Organization Award: School of International Education, Nanchang University
Together with the Confucius Institute at Hasanuddin University in Indonesia, our university received the Outstanding Organization Award. We selected and submitted a group of short videos that are authentic, vivid and engaging, and they were well received by both judges and viewers.
🏫 Outstanding Organization Award: School of Overseas Education, Chengdu University
Alongside Peking University, Fudan University and other institutions, our school ranked among the leading domestic organizers. This result is a vivid demonstration of the 'education through practice plus international communication' model.
Chengdu University specifically notes that it stands alongside Peking University and Fudan University, which shows that the competition's credibility is recognized by the country's leading universities.
🌏 Overseas Organizer: Philippine Chinese Education Center
As the overseas organizer, we coordinate the entire process from distributing registration forms to collecting and submitting entries. The organizers stress that no fees are charged to participants and that every step is completed through the online platform.
🏫 Confucius Institute at the National University of Mongolia
By actively advancing innovation in International Chinese education through digital and multimedia formats, it shows the enthusiasm of young Mongolians for learning Chinese and the deep potential of cultural exchange between Mongolia and China.
One consensus emerges from these voices: the digital platform behind the HSK Short Video Contest removes geographic distance as a barrier to participation — whether a secondary school participant in Mongolia, an overseas test center in the Philippines or a coordinating university in China, all of them connect to the same competition system through the AKI platform.
4. HSK and AKI: Two “Global-Scale” Infrastructures in Resonance
The HSK (Chinese Proficiency Test) is itself a standardized system with global coverage: serving 166 countries through 1,416 test centers, it is the most authoritative test of Chinese proficiency in the world. In a sense, the digital platform AKI provides for the HSK Short Video Contest is a conversation between two global-scale infrastructures:
- HSK provides the standard and the network: a worldwide network of test centers, a user base of millions of candidates, and Chinese Testing International's partnerships with education institutions around the world
- AKI provides the digital platform: registration management, entry aggregation, dual-platform voting, review systems and results announcement, a fully digital workflow proven across three editions
The 6th HSK Short Video Contest in 2026 is currently in its online voting phase (July 1-30, 2026). This edition introduces several changes to the format:
- Five themes, choose one: participants pick one of five directions: “The Boundless Possibilities of Chinese”, “A Day as a Chinese Person”, “Chinese Poetry”, “Chinese Talents” and “Cracking the Code of Chinese Teaching”, giving creators far more room to express themselves
- Upgraded prizes: first prize is a Huawei tablet, second prize a pair of Huawei smart glasses and third prize a Huawei watch, while the learning incentive award is a free HSK exam sitting
- Participant benefits: every participant receives a free HSK mock exam and trial access to the Wohui Mandarin learning platform
These format changes add further operational complexity: five thematic directions mean more flexible entry categorization and search, and more participant benefits mean more complex eligibility checks. The AKI platform is absorbing these new requirements in real time.
Frequently Asked Questions About the HSK Short Video Contest
Q1: What level of competition is the HSK Short Video Contest?
It is organized by Chinese Testing International (CTI) together with leading institutions including the Tsinghua University Southeast Asia Center and the Fudan University international cultural exchange base. It is the largest short video competition in Chinese language learning worldwide, covering 114 countries and regions, involving more than 300 universities and collecting over 1,600 entries a year.
Q2: How does voting work?
The competition uses a dual-platform voting plus expert review model. All shortlisted entries are showcased on both Bilibili and YouTube, and users around the world can like and vote on either platform. Online voting data flows into the AKI platform for the expert judges to reference. Voting for the 6th edition runs from July 1 to July 30.
Q3: What role does the AKI platform play?
AKI provides end-to-end digital support, from registration and entry submission to preliminary review management, aggregation of dual-platform voting data, online expert judging and publication of the final results. It is not a simple showcase page; it is the backend platform that keeps a global competition running.
Q4: What advantages does AKI offer for a global competition?
There are three core advantages. First, cross-border reach: proven across three editions, the platform supports simultaneous access and uploads from participants in 114 countries. Second, multi-role collaboration: participants, judges, organizers and overseas test centers all work inside one system. Third, data continuity: registration, voting, judging and results data flow through the same platform, avoiding information silos.
Want to see what a global competition looks like?
Follow the link below to go straight to the official site of the 6th HSK Short Video Contest.
Visit the HSK Short Video Contest homepage →With AKI, Every Competition Runs Smoothly and Stays Under Control
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