Wang Jingli

wangjingli0715@163.com

THE Confucius Institute at Prince Sultan University (PSU) has been officially inaugurated, marking the establishment of the first Confucius Institute in Saudi Arabia.

The institute, located in Riyadh, capital of Saudi Arabia, is a joint initiative between Shenzhen University (SZU) and PSU. This is also the first Confucius Institute that SZU has participated in building, according to SZU.

The inaugural ceremony of the Confucius Institute at PSU was held simultaneously both online and offline.

Ahmed S. Yamani, president of PSU, said that the institute will provide a valuable opportunity for students at PSU as well as local citizens to study Chinese and learn about Chinese culture. As the younger generations have shown a growing interest in Chinese culture and language, more and more students will join the Confucius Institute at PSU and the institute will become an important base to promote Chinese language and culture in Saudi Arabia, according to Yamani.

Yin Lijun, the charge d’affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Saudi Arabia, said in a speech that China and Saudi Arabia have deepened cooperation in many fields. At present, a total of four universities in Saudi Arabia have offered majors in Chinese and eight primary and high schools have incorporated Chinese language in their elective courses.

Yin believes that the Confucius Institute at PSU will further promote mutual understanding and foster increased exchanges between the youth of the two countries.

Mao Junfa, president of SZU, delivered a speech via video link, in which he said that the two universities will leverage their respective strengths to build the Confucius Institute at PSU into the most prominent center for language and cultural exchange, and an important exchange platform for people of the two countries.

PSU, established in 1998, is the first private and nonprofit university in Saudi Arabia. It now has over 6,500 students and more than 900 teaching faculty and staff.