Our reporter Yan Yu
The picture shows Egyptian young Asma Mustafa Ibrahim showing the word "heart" written with a brush. Photographed by Xinhua News Agency reporter Sui Xiankai
The picture shows guests learning about clean energy projects at the 6th China-Arab Expo. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Feng Kaihua
Chinese classes have been included in the curriculum of students in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and other countries; many young people in Morocco, Jordan and other countries love to sing Chinese songs and choose to work in China; many Arab youths have given themselves Chinese names... …In recent years, the “Chinese craze” in Arab countries has continued to heat up. The increasingly close friendly cooperation between China and Arab countries has brought the hearts of the Chinese and Arab people closer together. The "Chinese fever" reflects a vivid picture of mutual benefit, win-win and common development between China and Arab countries.
There are more and more "Chinese classes" in Arab countries
Last year, a video of a group of Saudi students holding a morning meeting in Chinese went viral on overseas social media and attracted widespread attention. In the video, students from King Fahd School in Baha, Saudi Arabia, held a morning meeting in Chinese, and one of the students was responsible for the translation. Netizens familiar with the situation left a message saying that such morning meetings were previously limited to speaking Arabic.
This video not only caused heated discussions in Saudi Arabia, but was also widely reported by media in other Arab countries. The UAE's "Gulf News" stated that the school's innovative approach of encouraging students to hold morning meetings in Chinese was launched in the context of the Saudi education department launching an intensive Chinese teaching plan, aiming to improve students' Chinese abilities. Many social media users expressed this Expressed encouragement and approval.
In recent years, the "Chinese craze" has continued to heat up in Arab countries. More and more people in Arab countries can write "Chinese characters" and love to speak "Chinese dialect". In Morocco, Dina, a post-90s girl, spreads Chinese culture with authentic Chinese songs, attracting many fans online; in Egypt, Yahya, a young teacher in the Chinese Department of Suez Canal University, loves Chinese literature and has translated and published a large number of Chinese books in more than 10 years. ; Jordanian young man Xiao Ai came to China to study and fell in love with China, and finally chose to stay and work in Gansu... Similar stories abound. What’s even more surprising is that there are more and more “Chinese classes” in Arab countries.
In June 2023, the Confucius Institute at Prince Sultan University in Saudi Arabia, jointly established by Prince Sultan University in Saudi Arabia and Shenzhen University, was officially unveiled in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. The first officially listed Confucius Institute in Saudi Arabia was put into operation. Many other Arab countries have also established multiple Confucius Institutes and independent Confucius Classrooms.
In addition to the Confucius Institutes jointly run by China and foreign countries, many Arab countries have also taken the initiative to increase the proportion of Chinese education in the national education system. Currently, four Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Tunisia, have incorporated Chinese into their national education systems.
Saudi Arabia's "Oqazi" reported that the Saudi education department has launched a series of incentive measures to encourage Chinese learning. For example, students participating in Chinese courses will be regarded as participating in voluntary services; the Ministry of Education will select outstanding students nationwide to commend them, and will provide study tours to China as rewards.
"As schools in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Tunisia have successively opened Chinese majors and Chinese courses, the number of Chinese learners continues to rise, and the number of Arab students studying in China has increased year after year. Saudi Arabia and other countries have also increased the number of Chinese teachers and The intensity of the introduction of Chinese learning materials." Wang Xiaoyu, associate researcher at the Middle East Studies Center of Fudan University, said in an interview with this reporter that the "Chinese fever" that has emerged in Arab countries in recent years has shown strong development momentum, many young learners, and rapid promotion actions and other characteristics.
"Chinese fever" stems from the need for China and Arab countries to strengthen cooperation and enhance understanding
Why are Arab countries setting off a "Chinese fever"? Experts believe that "Chinese fever" reflects "China fever" and "China-Arab cooperation fever".
China-Arab friendly exchanges have a long history and are deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Especially in the past 10 years, China-Arab cooperation has continued to deepen and become more practical, and has achieved fruitful results. China has been the largest trading partner of Arab countries for many years in a row, and Arab countries are China's important energy suppliers and economic and trade partners. Cooperation between China and Arab countries in areas such as project contracting, industrial investment, and connectivity has been in-depth advancement.The economies of China and Arab countries are highly complementary. As mutually beneficial cooperation between the two sides continues to deepen, China's approach of promoting peace through development has enabled the Arab countries to gain tangible benefits and deepened political mutual trust and people-to-people bonds between the two sides.
Wang Xiaoyu believes that the rise of “Chinese fever” in Arab countries is mainly driven by three factors. First, strengthen economic, trade and scientific and technological cooperation. To jointly build the “Belt and Road”, language paves the way and culture takes the lead. At present, China has signed cooperation documents on the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" with all 22 Arab countries and the Arab League. Every interconnection between China and Arab countries requires language communication, which to a certain extent enhances the political will of Arab countries to promote Chinese education in their own countries. Especially from the perspective of people in Arab countries, the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" meets the development needs of the Arab country and brings benefits to the local people. It has become the consensus of the local people to learn Chinese well, deepen economic and trade cooperation with China, and absorb China's mature experience in scientific and technological development. The second is to deepen people-to-people and cultural exchanges. In recent years, the "China Story" has attracted a large number of people in Arab countries, triggering Arab countries' enthusiasm for learning China's development concepts. In particular, Arab countries have a large youth population, and they are an important group in the region who know China and are friends with China. As more and more Chinese and Arab youth learn and communicate with each other through the Internet, Arab youth's desire to understand China and their interest in learning Chinese are constantly stimulated. At the same time, under the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" initiative, China and Arab States have signed a series of cooperation agreements on education, science, culture and health. The spillover and driving effects between cultural exchanges and economic and trade cooperation have become more significant, promoting the further heating of Chinese education in Arab countries. The third is long-term development considerations. At the end of 2022, the China-Arab, China-Gulf, and China-Saudi Arabia leaders’ meetings were successfully held, which further strengthened the strategic choice of Arab countries to “look east”. The root cause of the “Chinese fever” in Arab countries is the widespread recognition of the prospects of China-Arab cooperation. More and more Arab people believe that Chinese is a language with great international influence. The promotion of Chinese education in Arab countries is not only based on long-term development considerations, but also represents the true willingness of the general public to learn and accept Chinese.
Sharif Yusuf Ahmed Saleh, Deputy Minister of Higher Education of Egypt, said that there are more and more people in Egypt who are eager to learn about China. They hope to personally explore the charm of Chinese culture and experience China's development by learning Chinese. Achievement. Nowadays, many universities in Egypt offer Chinese majors, and Chinese teaching has become an important part of Egypt’s national education system.
has many more exciting changes. In recent years, the "Chinese fever" has caught on the "Online Silk Road" construction express. Some Chinese Internet companies have actively participated in building online Chinese classes, mobile smart classrooms, etc., and with the help of the Internet platform, they have established a dedicated Chinese learning platform for Arab countries, which is open to the public. A variety of courses suitable for Chinese language learners in Arab countries, such as language learning, Chinese examinations, and "Chinese + vocational skills", integrate advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and big data into the Chinese education innovation model.
"Benefiting from the continuous development of intelligent technology, the informatization of Chinese international education has provided a more convenient learning platform and richer learning resources for the people of Arab countries. Through advanced teaching methods such as online Chinese classes and mobile smart classrooms, it has attracted more people from Arab countries. Many Chinese enthusiasts are devoted to learning." Wang Xiaoyu said.
China-Arab pragmatic cooperation has broad prospects and is worth looking forward to.
The increasingly frequent exchanges between China and Arab countries in various fields have given rise to a "Chinese fever" and made people in Arab countries fall in love with learning Chinese. As a carrier of civilizational exchanges, the Chinese language allows people in Arab countries to have a deeper understanding of China, thereby promoting people-to-people connectivity and promoting China-Arab cooperation.
Wang Xiaoyu believes that the “Chinese craze” is in the ascendant in Arab countries, and will also vigorously promote cooperation between the two parties in language and culture industries and other related fields, including language training, translation and other language service fields, Chinese books, film and television and other overseas sales industries, as well as China Trade in cultural peripheral products such as calligraphy, calligraphy and painting, etc., thereby consolidating the spread and influence of Chinese language and culture in Arab countries.
"With the steady development of friendly cooperative relations between China and Arab countries in various fields, 'Chinese Fever' will help Arab people understand China's national conditions in a deeper and more diverse way. In recent years, China and Arab countries have extensively exchanged and shared innovative technologies, financial investments The advanced technology and development experience in poverty alleviation, digital infrastructure and other aspects have greatly enhanced the application value of Chinese in bilateral practical cooperation." Wang Xiaoyu said.
2024 is the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, and the 10th Ministerial Conference of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum will be held in China. Analysts generally believe that China-Arab pragmatic cooperation has broad prospects in the future and is worth looking forward to.
Looking forward to China-Arab relations in 2024, Wang Guangda, a professor at Shanghai International Studies University and secretary-general of the China-Arab Reform and Development Research Center, believes that China has established comprehensive strategic partnerships or strategic partnerships with 14 Arab countries in 2023, and China-Arab relations are bound to improve in 2024. Achieve more fruitful results: First, continue to deepen strategic mutual trust and safeguard common interests. In 2024, the two sides will continue the good momentum of mutual support and meeting each other halfway to promote continuous new breakthroughs in China-UAE relations; second, they will adhere to mutual benefit and win-win results and push pragmatic cooperation to a new level. The two sides will continue to implement the "Eight Major Joint Actions" of China-UAE practical cooperation, continue to promote comprehensive cooperation in eight areas: support for development, food security, health, green innovation, energy security, dialogue between civilizations, youth development, and security and stability, and work together to promote high-quality Jointly building the "Belt and Road" will better benefit the nearly 2 billion people on both sides; third, continue to promote exchanges and mutual learning between civilizations into a new stage. China and Argentina will jointly implement the Global Civilization Initiative and make greater contributions to jointly addressing global challenges.
