Chinese compulsory second foreign language in S Arabia

RIYADH, Mar 04 (AFP): With a map of China on the wall behind him, 14-year-old Yasser al-Shaalan studied the names of professions in a Chinese textbook, one of thousands of Saudi children now learning the language at school.

Mandarin's entry into public schools is the latest sign of growing ties between Saudi Arabia and China, as the oil-rich Gulf kingdom pushes to diversify its economy and strategic alliances.

"The pupils at the other schools are proficient in English. I know Arabic, English and Chinese, which is a great asset for my future," Shaalan told AFP.

In August, Saudi Arabia introduced China's official language as a compulsory second foreign language after English in six of its 13 administrative regions' schools.

Shaalan and his classmates have three Mandarin lessons a week, taught by their teacher Ma Shuaib, a Chinese national and Muslim who is fluent in Arabic.

In their classroom in northern Riyadh, close to the Saudi headquarters of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, Shaalan and his classmates learn Chinese characters shown on an electronic whiteboard.

"At first it was difficult, but now it has become easy and fun," the teenager told AFP. Mandarin is one of the world's most widely spoken languages, and the overwhelming majority of its speakers live in China.

After a visit to China in 2019, Saudi crown prince and de facto ruler Mohammed bin Salman announced a plan to introduce Chinese throughout the education system.

Since then, several Saudi universities have opened programmes in Chinese. In 2023, Prince Sultan University in Riyadh inaugurated the kingdom's first branch of the Confucius Institute.

Following China's emergence as a major economic power, Mandarin teaching has become increasingly popular around the world, including in Europe.