Ambitious plans for China Village at nation’s top university reflect education’s key role
Pursuing a strategic pivot eastward, Jordan has placed education at the forefront of its engagement with China amid the evolving Middle Eastern landscape. Backed by a comprehensive higher education and vocational training system, the country has rolled out multiple programs to cultivate youth talent and cement long-term cooperation.
Yarmouk University, Jordan’s second-largest public university situated in Irbid, has unveiled plans to construct an on-campus complex called China Village. Focused on Chinese language education, the compound will serve as an integrated hub showcasing Chinese culture, state-of-the-art technologies and comprehensive academic resources.
Malek Alsharairi, president of the university, said that Yarmouk is striving to build Jordan’s most robust academic ties with China, supported by China-related full disciplinary coverage ranging from medical sciences and fine arts to engineering, architecture, drama and music for all enrolled students.
“We will launch Chinese language electives open to all students regardless of majors, allowing learners from every faculty to access language training,” he said.
“The upcoming China Village will be a fully functional facility covering China’s technology, economic development, governance and cultural heritage to support interdisciplinary research. It boasts broader functions than Confucius Institutes and acts as a permanent local showcase for China’s innovations.”
Several months ago, Yarmouk sent a delegation to Shanghai Theatre Academy for exchanges, Alsharairi said.
He added that he had instructed the Fine Arts Faculty to incorporate Chinese opera and theatrical arts into its existing teaching modules, with a long-term objective to launch a standalone full undergraduate concentration dedicated to Chinese theater.
Under his plan, each faculty within China Village will develop customized China-themed curricula anchored in the unified framework.
“Architecture students will attend exclusive modules on Chinese architectural design. Meanwhile, the music and theater departments will roll out matching courses featuring traditional Chinese performing arts, and the Faculty of Engineering will spearhead campus exhibitions and promotional displays of China’s industrial and innovative technologies,” he said.
The president noted that Jordan’s security environment across the Levant region offers unparalleled market access for Chinese technologies on display at Yarmouk.
Irbid lies a two-hour drive from Damascus, where Syria is pushing forward large-scale reconstruction of infrastructure, education and public services after years of conflict.
“Command of the Chinese language paired with a sound grasp of China’s industries and culture delivers substantial employment advantages for Jordanian graduates. As an ideal neutral regional hub, Jordan stands ready to attract Chinese enterprises seeking to participate in post-war reconstruction projects in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon,” Alsharairi said.
The university now hosts over 30 Chinese students majoring in Arabic. “Our annual tuition fees amount to approximately $2,000. Beyond the affordable price tag, a far greater advantage is that Jordan’s Arabic aligns with Modern Standard Arabic, granting us a competitive edge,” said a Chinese student from Gansu.
Alsharairi added that a two-way student exchange sits high on the university’s development agenda. Yarmouk plans to enroll more Chinese students, with the expectation that these alumni will serve as lasting bridges of communication between Jordan and China after graduation.
“Fluent language exchange opens up extensive commercial cooperation opportunities. Chinese entrepreneurs with strong Arabic capabilities will significantly bolster bilateral trade and investment links,” he said.
“We also plan to co-establish an Arabic language center in China, building on our existing partnership with Shanghai International Studies University.”
Guo Wei, Chinese ambassador to Jordan, said that educational cooperation is a core underpinning for advancing all-around bilateral ties amid profound global changes. He highlighted seven official Chinese language teaching hubs across Jordan, where the number of on-campus Chinese learners has surpassed 3,000, marking a nearly 40 percent surge from two years earlier.
A rising cohort of young Jordanians travel to China through government scholarships, joint training schemes and academic exchange programs to pursue degrees in medicine, engineering, information technology and artificial intelligence.
After graduation, they return to Jordan and play an instrumental role in advancing bilateral cooperation. Concurrently, a growing number of Chinese students opt to study Arabic language and literature in Jordan.
“From a broader vantage point, educational exchanges unlock prospects for youth from both nations, empowering more young people to cultivate a global mindset and thrive through collaboration,” Guo said.
Promising frontier
Beyond cooperation at the higher education level, vocational training has emerged as a promising new frontier. Jordan’s economy is overwhelmingly service-driven, yet many skilled local technicians migrate to well-established innovation hubs like Dubai and other Gulf cities in search of better career prospects.
Rafat Mousa Al-Sawafin, director general of Jordan’s national Vocational Training Corporation, or VTC, expressed high hopes for expanded cooperation with China. Established in 1976 as Jordan’s largest public vocational institution, VTC runs 35 training branches across the country, equipped with more than 300 workshops and 126 state-accredited training curricula.
“Our graduate employment rate stands at 62 percent among the 8,000 trainees we graduate every year,” he said with pride, given Jordan’s high national unemployment rate.
More than 80 percent of VTC’s training curricula are tailored to meet tangible labor market demands. It has built extensive partnerships with over 4,000 private-sector stakeholders, ranging from small workshops and large industrial manufacturers to high-end five-star hotel groups.
“Training fees stay highly affordable thanks to substantial government subsidies,” Al-Sawafin explained.
“Jordanian trainees pay 30 dinars ($42) per six-month semester, while international trainees pay 60 dinars. We welcome all legal residents of Jordan regardless of nationality or gender, with the sole entry requirement being a minimum age of 16.”
Though VTC boasts abundant domestic training resources, Al-Sawafin admitted its cooperation with Chinese peers remains very limited. He expressed a strong willingness to deepen collaboration and called for comprehensive support from China.
“VTC prioritizes cooperation in information technology and commercial microchip design, two sectors where China boasts world-renowned mature vocational training expertise,” he said. “We hope Chinese partners can provide three key forms of support: laboratory infrastructure, cutting-edge training equipment and standardized curriculum packages, paired with training-of-trainer workshops for local instructors.”
China will host the 48th WorldSkills Competition this September, marking the nation’s debut as host of the global event, which is set to draw about 1,400 contestants from more than 70 nations. Al-Sawafin said Jordan hopes to send representatives to Shanghai to participate if funding permits.
“It would offer an invaluable chance to exchange insights with global vocational educators and learn cutting-edge vocational training expertise,” he said.
Zhao Xiaoqiang, cultural counselor of the Chinese embassy in Jordan, also expected expanded vocational cooperation in market-driven sectors including commerce, tourism and mechanical engineering. He said that such collaboration will accelerate the shift from language-learning to a “Chinese plus vocational skills” integrated model.
“Such cooperation not only connects far more than knowledge and hands-on practical skills, but also binds together the vitality of young generations,” said Zhao, who is also director of the China Cultural Center in Amman.
