Cairo: The first batch of students majoring in Chinese language in Saudi Arabia have graduated this week amid thriving relations between Riyadh and Beijing, Saudi media reported.
The students graduated at the University of Jeddah’s Faculty of Languages and Translation, news portal Al Marsd reported.
A video on Al Arabiya TV showed a Saudi female student giving an address in Chinese on behalf of the graduates.
They were among 6,000 students who celebrated their graduation at a gala held on the university’s campus.
The event came days after Saudi Arabia and Iran signed a China-brokered deal to resume their diplomatic ties after a seven-year rift.
Saudi Arabia has said it plans to expand teaching the Chinese language after Chinese President Xi Jinping made an official visit last December to the kingdom where he met King Salman bin Abdul Aziz and Crown Prince Mohammad.
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 would offer thousands of opportunities to teach Chinese in the Gulf countries.
In January, Saudi Arabia’s advisory Shoura Council approved a draft accord with China to teach the Chinese language in the kingdom.
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, the Saudi Crown Prince 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.
