The 25th China Daily "21st Century Coca-Cola Cup" National College English Speaking Competition was held in Guangzhou at the Guangzhou Baiyun International Conference Center on October 5. Accompanied by Zhang Shuang, the head of Sias University's English Speech Team, Zuo Shi, a student majoring in English at the School of Foreign Languages, participated in the competition. It is the first time that Sias has participated in the "21st Century Coca-Cola Cup" National College English Speaking Competition.

The competition is divided into two rounds: the semi-finals, and the finals. The 71 students who qualified for the semi-finals were from across the country - the top 3 from each of the provincial finals. The Henan Provincial Competition was held at the PLA Information Engineering University on December 6 and 7, 2019. Zuo Shi from Sias University finished second and qualified for the national semi-finals along with the winner, Chen Jingjing (Nanyang Normal University), and the second runner up, Chen Haoyong (Henan University).

The national semi-finals were held on October 5 and 6. The semi-finals were divided into 3 rounds: Proposition Speeches, Impromptu Speeches, and a Question & Answer Round. The topic for the Proposition Speech Round was 'No Man is an Island'. The Question & Answer Round involved 2 questions from the judges. One of those questions was based on either the contestant's Proposition Speech of Impromptu Speech. After two days, Zuo Shi qualified for the finals with an outstanding performance. He was joined in the finals by 11 contestants from the Communication University of China, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Sichuan International Studies University, the University of International Business and Economics, China Foreign Affairs University, East China Normal University, and Nanjing University.

The finals of the competition were also divided into 3 rounds: a Proposition Speech Round, Impromptu Speech Round, and an on-the-spot Q&A Round, with 10 minutes for each contestant. The topic for the Proposition Speech Round was 'Seize the Day'. Zuo Shi won an award at the finals and was the only winner from all of the private colleges and universities in China.

The "21st Century Cup" National College English Speaking Competition was founded by China Daily in 1996. It is one of the higher-level competitions among English-speaking competitions in China. It has the support of the Ministry of Education and the international English teachers. The national finals were originally scheduled for the first half of 2020 but were postponed to October due to the Covid-19 pandemic.