Feature: Xi's reply encourages Saudi students to devote to Saudi-China friendship

Ahmed Sulaiman Alhayfani, the first place winner, participates in the "Chinese Bridge" Chinese proficiency competition for university students in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, July 20, 2022. (Xinhua/Wang Haizhou)

RIYADH, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- Prior to Chinese President Xi Jinping's scheduled visit to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, Ahmed Sulaiman Alhayfani was surprised to learn that the Chinese leader had replied to a letter he and some other Saudi college students had written to him recently.

"I was very, very excited to receive the reply from President Xi. He is so busy that I didn't think he would even have time to read our letter, let alone respond to it. This is a great honor for me, as well as a priceless memory that I will treasure forever!" said the 20-year-old junior.

Alhayfani, who majors in the Chinese language at King Abdulaziz University in Saudi Arabia's western coast city of Jeddah, is among the over 100 students from four Saudi colleges who wrote to the Chinese president.

Xi, who travelled to Saudi Arabia to attend the first China-Arab States Summit and the China-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit, sent them a reply recently. In the letter, the Chinese president encouraged Saudi students to contribute to the China-Saudi Arabia and the China-Arab friendships in the future.

"We have learned from the news that the first China-Arab States Summit will be held in our country and that President Xi will visit Saudi Arabia. We have learned to write letters (in Chinese) from our teachers, so we want to write a letter to welcome President Xi and show everyone what we have accomplished in learning," said Alhayfani.

Clad in a white robe and a white Ghutra, the Saudi headdress, Alhayfani said he, impressed by the distinctive Chinese culture and customs, was fascinated about China ever since he was a child.

In spite of the challenges in learning the Chinese language, he decided to beat the difficulties and give it a try. He chose Chinese studies as his major upon his enrollment to college in 2020, soon after Saudi Arabia included the Chinese language in the curriculum at all stages of education in schools and universities in 2019.

His perseverance and enthusiasm in learning have paid off. He received the top honor in Saudi Arabia's "Chinese Bridge" Chinese proficiency competition for university students this year and have so far passed a number of Chinese language proficiency tests.

Wesal Abdulrahman Alqarni, a classmate of Alhayfani and a co-author of the letter to President Xi, is also keen on learning Chinese.

The Chinese president's reply brought a great surprise and encouragement to her, who is called Wang Suoli by her Chinese name.

"I was so excited and immediately told my family (about the reply). They were all proud of me. I am very lucky that I met the Chinese language during the most beautiful years of my life, (President Xi's reply) has further strengthened my confidence in learning Chinese well," she said.

Inspired by Xi's letter, Alqarni said she will work hard on Chinese so that she could eventually become a Chinese teacher to assist more Saudis in learning the language. At the same time, she also wants to devote herself to translating more videos and articles about China on social media to introduce China to the rest of the world.

She hoped that the summit would be a complete success, and bilateral relations between China and Saudi Arabia would continue to grow, creating more opportunities for youth exchanges and encouraging young people in both nations to learn each other's languages to improve communication and exchanges.