On May 14, Consul General of Qatar in Shanghai, Rashid bin Mubarak Al-Khater, visited the Songjiang campus of Shanghai International Studies University. SISU Vice President Yi Yonggang met with the Consul General and his delegation. The two sides engaged in in-depth discussions around deepening China-Qatar educational cooperation, people-to-people exchanges, and joint think tank development.
Yi extended a warm welcome to the delegation and introduced SISU’s history, distinctive educational philosophy, and academic strengths. He noted that, as one of the birthplaces of foreign language education in New China, SISU has leveraged its “Multilingual Plus” strengths and relied on major national-level platforms to build a distinctive Middle East studies system. He sincerely invited the Qatari side to actively participate in major China-Arab cultural exchange and higher education cooperation conferences to be hosted or organized by SISU in 2026. He also expressed hope for further collaboration with Qatar in the field of education to jointly advance youth talent cultivation, academic exchanges, and think tank development between China and Qatar.
Rashid bin Mubarak Al-Khater thanked SISU for its warm reception and highly praised SISU’s achievements in Arabic language talent cultivation, area and country studies, and China-Arab cooperation. He announced that the Consulate General of Qatar in Shanghai attaches great importance to exchanges and cooperation with SISU in the fields of education, culture, and youth engagement, and looks forward to serving as a bridge to further promote deeper bilateral cooperation.
Representatives from the China-Arab Research Center on Reform and Development, the Office of International Cooperation and Exchange, and the School of Asian and African Studies attended the meeting.
Following the meeting, the Consul General and his delegation visited the School of Asian and African Studies and held a cordial discussion with students majoring in Arabic. The students communicated fluently in Arabic with the Consul General, demonstrating both strong language proficiency and excellent intercultural communication skills, which received high praise from the Consul General. The delegation also toured the new building of the China-Arab Research Center on Reform and Development and the themed exhibition hall “China-Arab Friendly Exchanges and Cooperation,” where they learned in greater detail about the center’s development progress and future plans.
This visit further strengthened the friendly ties between SISU and the Consulate General of Qatar in Shanghai and injected new momentum into practical cooperation between the two sides. SISU will continue to leverage its strengths in multilingual education and area studies to contribute to accelerating the building of a China-Arab community with a shared future.
