ULAN BATOR, April 19 (Xinhua) -- The award ceremony of a Chinese essay competition for Mongolian high school students was held here on Friday.

The competition was organized by the state-owned news agency Montsame to celebrate the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Mongolia.

"The 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Mongolia and China coincides with the 90th anniversary of our agency's weekly Mongolian News in Chinese. So we co-organized the essay writing competition with the Chinese Embassy in Mongolia and the Chinese Cultural Center in Ulan Bator," said Badamdorj Ganchimeg, director-general of Montsame, at the award ceremony.

Mongolian News in Chinese is the only newspaper published in Chinese in the country.

Ganchimeg noted that the essay writing competition aims to promote Mongolian students' Chinese writing skills and discover their views on Mongolia-China friendship.

"I am confident that the essay writing competition will encourage Mongolian students to learn the Chinese language deeply and increase their knowledge about China," said Li Wei, cultural counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Mongolia.

The first edition of the annual essay writing competition, under the theme of "Mongolia-China Friendship through My Eyes," had attracted around 50 students across the country.

Top six participants of the competition were awarded certificates and cash prizes respectively.