Growing Interest in Chinese Language and Culture Among UAE Youth

Dubai. Interest in the Chinese language and culture is growing among young people in the United Arab Emirates. The UAE final of the 2026 Chinese Bridge Language Proficiency Competition, held on Saturday at Zayed University’s Dubai Campus, further highlighted this trend.

Khadija Sultan Alkhoori won first prize in the middle school category of the competition. Dressed in a bright red tai chi uniform, she took the stage and confidently shared her journey of learning Chinese in fluent Mandarin. She then performed tai chi to soft traditional music, receiving warm applause from the audience.

For Alkhoori, learning Chinese is not only about winning a prize. She said the language is very interesting and expressed her desire to study medicine in the future and travel to China to learn traditional Chinese medicine.

This year’s competition attracted 619 contestants from across the UAE, with 22 finalists advancing to the national final. The participants showcased not only their Chinese language skills but also various Chinese cultural traditions, including Sichuan opera face-changing, shadow puppetry, calligraphy, singing, dancing and tai chi.

Contestant Bashayer Omar Hassan Mohammed Alteneiji said she chose Sichuan opera face-changing because her teacher comes from Sichuan in western China. After visiting the Great Wall, seeing giant pandas and trying Chinese milk tea, she said her interest in China had grown even stronger. According to her, her friends are also becoming more curious about China.

The enthusiasm for learning Chinese in the UAE is not limited to classrooms. The Confucius Institute at the University of Dubai, regarded as the first of its kind in the UAE and the Gulf Cooperation Council region, has become an important centre for local students to learn Chinese language and culture.

Hiba Mohamed Ahmed has studied Chinese for only two years, yet she already speaks it with remarkable fluency. She said that while growing up in the UAE, she had seen relations between the UAE and China becoming increasingly close, which inspired her to understand China more deeply. After visiting Guangzhou and Shanghai last year, she now dreams of travelling to Beijing and Ningxia and receiving a scholarship for advanced language studies.

Ahmed said she wants to become a bridge for cultural exchange between the UAE and China. She described learning Chinese as a means of personal development as well as a way to deepen understanding between the two countries.

Chinese Ambassador to the UAE Zeng Jixin said educational and cultural exchanges have flourished in recent years alongside the development of bilateral relations. According to him, more Emiratis, especially young people, are learning Chinese and studying in China, gaining a deeper and more authentic understanding of the country.

Ambassador Zeng said the Chinese Bridge competition is not only a bridge of language, but also a bridge of mutual understanding between civilizations, a bridge connecting hearts and a bridge promoting development and cooperation.

Michael Allen, Provost of Zayed University, also said the university’s Confucius Institute is an important platform for local students to learn Chinese and experience Chinese culture. According to him, it has helped strengthen educational cooperation between the UAE and China.

As Alkhoori received her award on stage, her father expressed pride in his daughter’s achievement. He said learning Chinese had opened a new path for her future and that the whole family fully supports her studies.

The competition showed that, among UAE youth, Chinese language learning is increasingly becoming not only an academic subject, but also a gateway to future opportunities, cultural dialogue and international cooperation.