Saudi Arabia: Over 100,000 students to learn Chinese language by end of next year

175 Mandarin teachers now coaching pupils in schools across kingdom

Cairo: Saudi Arabia plans to expand the teaching of the Chinese language in its public schools and target 102,000 students by the end of next year.

The expansion reflects Saudi interest in boosting cultural and economic links, the Saudi news portal Sabq reported.

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The first group of 175 Chinese language teachers are now doing the job in Saudi schools under an agreement reached last year to enhance cooperation in this respect.

Earlier this year, the Saudi Ministry of Education announced the introduction of Chinese in middle schools in selected regions as part of the first phase of a related programme.

The ministry said the Mandarin will be taught in schools in Riyadh, Yanbu, the Eastern Province, Jeddah, Jazan, and Tabuk under a 2023 government decision that approved its teaching alongside Arabic and English.

The ministry added that it had organised a familiarisation meeting for the first group of Chinese teachers after their arrival in the kingdom.

The teachers completed pre-service training at Tianjin Normal University. The Saudi Ministry of Education and the Centre for Language Education and Cooperation under China’s Ministry of Education co-organised the training with the university.

In 2020, Saudi education authorities began teaching Chinese in eight high schools as part of efforts to strengthen ties between the two countries.

Earlier that year, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visited China where it was agreed to work out a plan for introducing the Chinese language into curricula of schools and universities in the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia announced plans to expand Chinese language education following Chinese President Xi Jinping's official visit to the kingdom in late 2022, when he met King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed.

Xi said in Riyadh that his country would offer thousands of opportunities to teach the Chinese language in the Gulf countries.