Cairo: Saudi Arabia plans to expand teaching the Chinese language amid thriving links with Beijing and the Arab world.
Chinese President Xi Jinping Saturday left Saudi Arabia after an official visit to the kingdom where he met King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed.
Xi also attended summits with leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council and other Arab leaders, pledging to deepen partnership between the Arab world and China.
Xi said in Riyadh that his country will offer thousands of opportunity to teach the Chinese language to the Gulf countries.
Undersecretary for Public Education at the Saudi Education Ministry, Ohud Al Fares, said that the Chinese language has already been introduced into some public and private schools as an optional subject.
“The Chinese language is one of the important world languages,” she told Saudi TV Al Ekhbariya.
“It is taught with the aim of enabling students to gain the necessary skills. Teaching the Chinese language will be expanded as part of optional curricula,” she added.
In 2020, Saudi education authorities started introducing the Chinese language in eight high schools as part of efforts to boost links between the two countries.
Earlier that year, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad 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.
