Chinese President Champions Language Learning as Path to Stronger UAE-China Ties
President Xi Jinping has personally responded to enthusiastic letters from young Arabic learners of Chinese, calling them 'little ambassadors' for cross-cultural understanding. The exchange comes five years after the launch of the UAE's 'Hundred Schools Project' – an initiative that's now teaching Chinese to 71,000 students across 171 schools.
📜 'From your lines and drawings, I felt your love for Chinese culture,' Xi wrote to students from Hamdan Bin Zayed School and Yas School. The president specifically invited UAE youth to 'see pandas, climb the Great Wall, and study at Chinese universities' – basically the ultimate China bucket list! 🐼🏯
From Classroom to Cultural Bridge
The program's success reads like a language-learning fairytale: What started as a 2019 memorandum between Xi and UAE leaders has become what students call a '40-year friendship handshake' between nations. With 71,000 classmates learning 你好 (nǐ hǎo) alongside algebra, these students are becoming Generation Z's answer to diplomatic envoys.
🌱 Xi emphasized that youth hold the key to future relations, urging students to 'plant seeds of friendship in their hearts.' Talk about growth mindset! Next stop for these language whizzes? Possibly Chinese universities – and definitely more dumplings than they can count. 🥟
