Study every day | The Sino-Arab friendship behind the “100 Schools Project”
Study every day "I read each of your letters, and I feel your love for Chinese culture and your expectation for the friendship between the two countries from between the lines and the pictures." Recently, President Xi Jinping responded to the letter of the "Hundred Schools Project" for Chinese teaching in the United Arab Emirates. Student representatives encouraged them to learn Chinese well, understand China, and contribute to promoting Sino-Arab friendship.
The "100 Schools Project" is a bright brand of Chinese teaching in the UAE. What is the story of China-UAE cultural exchanges behind it? "Study Every Day" will learn about it with you.
In 2016, the UAE expressed its hope to open Chinese courses in 100 schools with China's assistance. At the end of 2018, with the joint efforts of China and the UAE, the Ministry of Education of the UAE announced that Chinese courses would be included in the teaching planning syllabus of public primary and secondary schools in the UAE.
In July 2019, under the joint witness of President Xi Jinping and the then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Salman, the UAE, China and the UAE signed a memorandum of understanding in Beijing to officially launch the "Hundred Schools Project" for Chinese teaching in the UAE.
Over the past five years, as a popular project to enhance educational and cultural exchanges between the two countries, the “100 Schools Project” has pushed Chinese teaching in the UAE into the “fast lane”. President Xi mentioned in his reply that "'Learning Chinese' has become a new trend in the UAE."
As of now, 171 schools in the UAE offer Chinese courses, and 71,000 students study Chinese, covering all school age groups from kindergarten to high school. In 2020, the UAE Ministry of Education promulgated the first Chinese teaching syllabus, the "National Chinese Curriculum Framework for Primary and Secondary Schools in the United Arab Emirates", marking that Chinese education in the UAE has entered a stage of systematic and standardized development.
When you walk into an Emirati Chinese school, you will see not only book corners, desks, and bookcases with Chinese vocabulary and Chinese poems, but also "art display columns" with student works such as calligraphy and paper-cutting. There is a strong sense of "China" everywhere. Taste".
“Starting from the concept of respecting students’ individual development, the school organizes Chinese cultural festivals, reading festivals, art festivals, etc. to let students understand China’s history and culture; it also carries out martial arts, tea art, calligraphy, paper-cutting, Peking opera, dance and other artistic activities to help students discover It provides a platform for self-expression and self-expression," said Yao Lina, a Chinese teacher and Chinese teaching director at Abu Dhabi Chinese School in the United Arab Emirates.
This year not only marks the 5th anniversary of the official launch of the "Hundred Schools Project" for Chinese teaching in the UAE, but also the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the UAE. Over the past 40 years, China and Arab countries have not only continued the Millennium Silk Road frontier in economic and trade cooperation, but also achieved fruitful results in the field of people-to-people and cultural exchanges.
The Abu Dhabi International Book Fair in the United Arab Emirates was founded in 1991 and is one of the largest and most influential book fairs in West Asia and North Africa. In April 2017, my country participated in the exhibition as the guest country for the first time with the theme of "Reading China". In the 650-square-meter guest country booth, there are nearly 3,500 kinds and more than 5,400 volumes of outstanding Chinese books, covering many fields such as contemporary Chinese politics and economy, social science and culture, natural sciences, literature and art. Among them, the book "Xi Jinping: The Governance of China" was published and distributed in the Gulf countries for the first time.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and UAE. As the guest country, my country participated in activities related to the Abu Dhabi International Arts Festival. Chinese dancers presented an artistic feast to the UAE audience at the opening ceremony with the ballet "New Year".
On the evening of January 27, 2024, at the Emirates Palace Theater in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, dancers from the China National Ballet performed the Chinese New Year ballet "New Year".
The relationship between countries lies in the mutual affinity between the people, and the mutual affinity between the peoples lies in the mutual understanding of the hearts.
In order to promote personnel exchanges between the two countries, China and the UAE reached a comprehensive mutual visa exemption arrangement in December 2017, which came into effect on January 16, 2018. The UAE became the first country in the Middle East to achieve comprehensive mutual visa exemption with my country.
In 2022, the Embassy of the UAE in China, together with the tourism bureaus of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah, will jointly launch the "UAE Landmark Buildings" live broadcast event to enthusiastically show the magnificent beauty and landmark buildings of the UAE to Chinese netizens.
In Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, on the occasion of the Spring Festival of the Year of the Dragon, the Emirates Palace Hotel decorated the entrance and lobby with lifelike auspicious dragon patterns, and major tourist attractions in the UAE competed to launch "Chinese Food Guide".
In a supermarket in a densely populated area in Dubai, there is a dazzling array of food and daily necessities from China, including Guizhou Laoganma hot sauce, Liuzhou snail noodles, Henan Hu spicy soup...
Currently, there are more than 300,000 Chinese working and living in the UAE, and more than 500 Chinese students studying in the UAE.
The Silk Road is endless, and the boat is sailing on the vast sea. China and the UAE have been "hand in hand" for 40 years, drawing a wonderful picture of people-to-people and cultural exchanges. As President Xi Jinping hopes in his letter, we should take root in our hearts and contribute to creating a better future for China-UAE relations.
