Jordan keen to foster education ties with China — Touq

AMMAN — The number of Chinese students at Jordanian universities stands at around 500, while there are more than 600 Jordanians studying in Chinese universities, according to a Higher Education Ministry statement.

Higher Education Minister Muhyiddine Touq revealed the numbers on Thursday during a meeting with chairperson of the Beijing Foreign Studies University's board of directors Wang Dinghua, according to the statement. 

The meeting was attended by Chinese Ambassador in Amman Pan Weifang and the cultural consul from the Chinese embassy in Amman Yang Rong Hao and several Jordanian officials in the Higher Education sector. 

Touq voiced his contentment at the level of student exchange between the two countries, noting that most Jordanian students in China study medicine and that the ministry is preparing a strategy to attract more Arab and foreign students to study in Jordan in all majors.

He said that many Jordanian universities provide majors in modern specialisations that conform to the international labour market, noting that there are three Jordanian universities listed among the top 600 universities in the world.

Touq also commended the Beijing Foreign Studies University as it is listed among the top 20 universities in the world. 

The minister also gave a presentation to the Chinese delegation on the means the Higher Education Ministry adopts to acknowledge non-Jordanian universities, noting that it accepts directly any university listed among the top 500 around the world, while other universities need to send an online application through the Higher Education ministry's website.

For his part, Dinghua congratulated Touq for his recent appointment as a Higher Education Minister, commending the high quality of the higher education sector in Jordan. 

Dinghua said that the Beijing Foreign Studies University teaches 101 foreign languages, including Arabic, as part of its efforts to spread the language and Arab culture. 

The meeting also discussed issues of mutual interest, on top of which was activating the memorandum of understanding signed between the two countries in the field of higher education as well as grants to study the Arabic and Chinese languages.