ozens of scholars from China, Morocco and Egypt attended an international forum aimed at China and Africa’s cultural exchange, which was held at Shanghai International Studies University (SISU) on Dec. 3, 2022.

Scholars discussed the future of China-Morocco and China-Africa relations through reviewing historical academic cultural exchanges between China and Morocco .

Murad Mahob, Dean of Faculty of Arts and Humanities - Ain Chock of Hassan II University of Casablanca (UH2C), stressed the importance of Chinese and academic cooperation between UH2C and SISU.

Mahob said that the two universities communicate mainly through Confucius Institute and it helped to improve Moroccan students’ Chinese language skills. He also suggested that Chinese should be included in Moroccan primary and secondary school curriculum.  

Wang Youyong, Director of Office of Research Affairs of SISU, made some suggestions on strengthening humanistic exchanges between China and Morocco. He said that establishing China-Arab museums could popularize the ancient civilizations of the two regions, and people could know better about the two regions through movies, series and other cultural materials.

When asked about cultural and linguistic differences between China and Arab, Nasser Bouciba, President of Africa China Cooperation Association for Development (ACCAD), pointed out that interpretation could solve problems between Chinese and Arabian companies, facilitate the spread of expertise and provide pre-employment training for workers. 

Morocco was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with China. During the pandemic, the forms of cooperation between the two countries have extended to the organization of international conferences and exhibitions.

In line with this trend, SISU and UH2C co-organized this forum online. The two universities have also organized five international academic forum series prior to this.