BUCHAREST, May 13 (Xinhua) -- Twenty Romanian students were awarded the Chinese Ambassador Scholarship Sunday here at the Chinese embassy in Bucharest.

The scholarship, the second of its kind, was set up last year to promote the study of the Chinese language and culture in Romania, and to award students and teachers with the most prominent results.

Chinese Ambassador to Romania Xu Feihong said in a speech that China and Romania have "a long traditional friendship", and over 10,000 students in Romania are studying Chinese in different forms of education, among them, four Confucius institutes, ten Confucius classrooms and over 130 Chinese teaching points.

"Chinese language is becoming more and more popular in Romania and all those who study Chinese will ensure themselves bright prospects for their career. My hope is that you will acquire such a proficiency in Chinese language so as to promote cultural exchanges between China and Romania, and to serve as a bridge of traditional Chinese-Romanian friendship," said the ambassador.

Maria Magdalena Jianu, general director of the Romanian Agency for Credits and Scholarships, emphasized that "Romania is happy about the continuation of these good old Romanian-Chinese traditional relations."

"I realize that Romanian people show significant interest in learning Chinese, and undergo professional training in China," said Jianu.

She explained that China provides 24 scholarships per year for Romania under the bilateral protocol, and also offers several other scholarships. The Romanian youths are interested in studying philology, engineering and economics in China.