14-year-old Yasser al-Shaalan, with a map of China on the wall behind him, studied the names of professions in a Chinese textbook.
He was one of thousands of Saudi children learning the language as part of a national push to strengthen ties with China. This move followed the introduction of Mandarin into public schools, marking a significant step in the growing relationship between Saudi Arabia and China.
As the oil-rich Gulf kingdom aimed to diversify its economy and strategic alliances, Mandarin’s inclusion in the education system was seen as a key development.
Shaalan, who already spoke Arabic and English, saw the language as a valuable asset. "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 the foreign agency.
His class, located in northern Riyadh near the Saudi headquarters of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, received three Mandarin lessons a week from their teacher, Ma Shuaib, a Chinese national and Muslim fluent in Arabic.
In August, Saudi Arabia had made Mandarin a compulsory second foreign language in six of its 13 administrative regions' schools.
The integration of Mandarin marked an important milestone in the kingdom's educational reforms under the Vision 2030 plan.
"At first it was difficult, but now it has become easy and fun," Shaalan shared about his progress.
Mandarin, spoken by over a billion people, was increasingly recognised as a global language of significance.
Following Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's visit to China in 2019, he had announced the plan to introduce the language into schools across the nation.
By 2023, several universities, including Prince Sultan University in Riyadh, had also begun offering Chinese language programmes, while the first branch of the Confucius Institute was inaugurated.
Mandarin's growing global presence was evident, as its teaching was gaining popularity worldwide, including in Europe.
However, the establishment of Confucius Institute language centres had faced challenges in some countries, including Germany, where the centres were criticised for allegedly promoting political agendas. Despite such concerns elsewhere, Saudi Arabia had not expressed similar fears.
Ma Shuaib, the Mandarin teacher, acknowledged the language's difficulty, saying, "Chinese is one of the most difficult languages", but added that he employed "modern methods" to facilitate learning.
He used a digital board, gestures, and interactive games to engage the students. Although learning Mandarin was compulsory, the marks for the course did not count towards overall grades.
Sattam al-Otaibi, director of the Yazeed bin Abi Othman School, said, "Chinese is the language of the future for economic communication.
The world depends on China for many industries." Thousands of Chinese nationals worked in Saudi Arabia, especially in Riyadh, where trilingual signs in Arabic, English, and Chinese had been displayed at the airport.
Saudi Arabia's growing ties with China were part of a broader strategy to diversify its foreign alliances and economic partnerships.
The kingdom's economy, long dependent on oil exports, had shifted focus under Vision 2030, aiming for a more diversified future.
"For Saudi Arabia, the relationship with China has become one of the most important," said Umer Karim, an expert on Saudi foreign policy at the University of Birmingham.
China had become Saudi Arabia's leading trade partner, with two-way trade exceeding $100 billion in 2023, a clear reflection of their flourishing economic and political relations.
Saudi Arabia's expanding engagement with China had been further demonstrated by the signing of over $10 billion worth of investment agreements in 2023 during the Sino-Arab Investment Forum hosted in Riyadh.
As part of their growing ties, hundreds of Chinese teachers had already arrived in Saudi Arabia, with plans for Saudi teachers to travel to China to learn Mandarin.
Karim stated, "The move to teach kids Chinese is again in line with the changing global order dynamics where China has emerged as the global economic powerhouse."
