TJU Debate Team Wins National Championship at “Sucai Cup” Competition

The Tianjin University (TJU) Debate Team claimed the national championship at the third “Sucai Cup” Talent Service-themed Debate Competition (National University Student Division), with TJU debater Yu Zeming receiving the Most Popular Debater Award.

The final round of the competition concluded on July 18. Organized under the guidance of the Communist Youth League Suzhou Municipal Committee and the Suzhou Talent Service Center, the competition brought together nearly 100 universities from across China, including Peking University, Tsinghua University, Fudan University and Sichuan University. After 92 online preliminary matches, regional competitions, semifinals and the national final, TJU emerged as the champion.

During the competition, TJU advanced through multiple rounds of debate on topics closely related to social development and contemporary issues, including young people’s career development in the AI era, the commercialization of historic cultural districts, and the relationship between cities and talent. In the national final, TJU debated the topic “In today’s era, should cities change for talent, or should talent change for cities?” and secured the victory.

The team was coached by Wang Tong, Xie Yu, Wang Chunshen and Chen Jiaxi. During the regional competition, team members included Yu Zeming, Han Xinlei, Chen Zhe, Ye Yilin, Liu Donghuan and Li Menghan. In the national final, Yu Zeming, Wu Yixuan, Chen Hongrui, Li Menghan and Zhang Sijia represented TJU. Zhang Jianpeng, the team’s faculty advisor, accompanied the team throughout the competition.

Founded in 1997, the TJU Debate Team has long been committed to promoting learning through debate and encouraging students to develop critical thinking and communication skills. Over the years, the team has achieved outstanding results in major domestic and international debate competitions. It won the Chinese Debate World Cup championship in 2015 and 2021, became the first Chinese university team to top the World Chinese Debate University Rankings in 2018, and won the International Chinese Debate Invitational Championship in 2024.

Through debate, TJU students continue to explore social issues, sharpen their analytical abilities and engage in dialogue with diverse perspectives, demonstrating the university’s commitment to fostering innovative talents with broad vision and strong communication skills.

By: Qin Mian