Beijing announced that it will grant 100 scholarships to Moroccan students to learn Mandarin, along with 100 spots at a summer camp in China to support and spread the learning of Mandarin in Morocco.
According to converging reports, the announcement was made by the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Chinese National People’s Congress, Zhao Liji, during a reception in his honor by the Confucius Institute of the University Mohammed V of Rabat.
In addition to scholarships and summer camp opportunities, China is also set to provide Mohammed V University with equipment for online learning of Mandarin and books to allow Moroccan students to better understand Chinese culture.
Speaking at the reception, Liji emphasized that the Confucius Institute is an important platform for promoting mutual understanding between China and Morocco and between China and Africa.
The reception was part of Liji’s official visit to Morocco with a high-level Chinese delegation.
In recent years, China has become an increasingly popular study-abroad destination for Moroccan students. The trend is further consolidated by the positive momentum in Morocco-China relations.
In January 2022, the Moroccan Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation announced that the Chinese Government Scholarship Program for the 2022-2023 academic year is now open for applications, with scholarships available for master and PhD degrees at the Beijing Institute of Technology.
Mehdi El Ihsani, director of the Foreign Universities Scholarships and Admissions Assistant Agency (FUSAAA), said that his agency has helped file 2021 the scholarship applications of almost 500 Moroccan students who sought to study in China.
Data from the FUSAAA, which has been assisting Moroccan students to pursue their studies in China since 2017, indicate that interest in Chinese universities and China, in general, has exponentially increased among Moroccan applicants in recent years.
