Knowledge partnership opens new chapter in Jordan-China ties

As Jordan and China pledged to comprehensively deepen their strategic partnership in the new era during the latest meeting of the countries' top leaders, exchanges are destined to grow in education and culture, providing universities, researchers and students on both sides with opportunities for mutual progress.

The relationship in education and culture predates China's Belt and Road Initiative. A significant milestone came in 2008 with the establishment of the Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Confucius Institute under a unique partnership with Shenyang Normal University, which helped introduce Chinese language and culture to Jordanian students.

Since then, Chinese language education has expanded across Jordanian universities and institutions, where more than 3,000 students are studying Chinese at seven official language centers and two Confucius Institutes. The field has also moved beyond language courses. The University of Jordan offers a bachelor's program in Chinese and English, while Philadelphia University launched Jordan's first master's degree program in Chinese Language in 2025.

China and Jordan established a strategic partnership in September 2015. The joint declaration calls for enhanced exchange and cooperation in the fields of culture, education, technology, journalism, tourism, healthcare and sports, necessitating the building of China-Jordan institutions of applied technology and higher education.

President Xi Jinping held in-depth talks with King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Abdullah II ibn Al Hussein in Beijing on Aug 24, after which the two sides issued a joint statement on deepening their strategic partnership and cooperation.

Academic links are consequently strengthened. In 2015, cooperation with China University of Geosciences in Wuhan included discussions on Jordanian-Chinese university and research centers, alongside academic interest in Jordan. In 2023, the Center for Jordanian Studies was established at the Northwestern Polytechnical University in Xi'an, Northwest China's Shaanxi province, creating platforms for research, conferences and sustained academic dialogue.

The scale of student mobility also reflects the depth of the relationship. More than 600 Jordanian students have studied in China in fields ranging from medicine and engineering to space science, artificial intelligence and Chinese language, and around 700 Chinese students are studying in Jordan, according to educational authorities on both sides. More than 2,000 Jordanian officials and technicians have also benefited from Chinese training programs.

These figures represent more than academic exchange. Each student and researcher who moves between the two countries becomes a potential link between their institutions, societies and economies.

My own experience in space science and astronomy is one example. I was the first Jordanian student to earn a doctorate in this field from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Studying in China was not simply a path to earning an academic degree. It was a research experience that allowed me to work within a scientific environment connected to research centers, observatories and international scientific projects.

After returning to Jordan, I continued to build on this experience through academic and research work, student training and the transfer of knowledge in space science and astronomy.

Today, more Jordanian students are pursuing their studies in China. They can form the nucleus of a new generation of researchers capable of developing joint projects and research groups between Jordan and China.

King Abdullah II's visit to China from Aug 18 to 24 at the invitation of President Xi has built on this foundation — to advance overall exchanges in higher education, scientific research, technology and innovation alongside trade and investment.

The BRI framework provides an additional platform for this transition. Jordan has supported the initiative since 2015 and signed a memorandum of understanding with China in 2023 on cooperation under the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road.

For Jordan, the value of this partnership increasingly lies in knowledge transfer. Cooperation can focus on areas where both countries face strategic challenges and opportunities, including artificial intelligence, water, renewable energy, cybersecurity, digital transformation, medical technology, Earth sciences and space research.

A notable example came in 2025, when the China International Development Cooperation Agency supported a smart higher education project in Jordan with 9 million Jordanian dinars ($12.7 million). Such initiatives demonstrate how cooperation can move from academic exchange to technology and institutional development.

The next step should be to turn university agreements into active research partnerships. Joint laboratories, graduate programs, multidisciplinary research teams, innovation hubs and structured researcher exchanges could create stronger links between academic knowledge and national development.

The BRI advocates people-to-people ties, and cultural exchange remains an essential part of this process. The Chinese Cultural Center in Amman, established in 2020, has expanded its work in language, arts, heritage and cultural exchange. Language learning, in particular, gives students and researchers a direct channel to Chinese universities and society.

Apart from that, tourism also plays a significant role in bilateral cultural exchange. Jordan has come into Chinese tourists' eyes recently. The number of Chinese visitors to Jordan increased by 15.9 percent during the first seven months of 2026, reaching 11,931, compared with 10,294 during the same period in 2025, data from Jordan tourism authorities show. During his visit to China, the King expressed Jordan's interest in expanding tourism exchanges and increasing the number of Chinese visitors.

The strategic opportunity now is to connect these different tracks. A student studying in China, a researcher working with a Chinese counterpart and a Jordanian university developing a joint technology project can become parts of the same knowledge ecosystem.

The future of Jordan-China relations should therefore be measured not only by the number of scholarships, agreements or visits, but by what these connections produce.

The real opportunity is to move from student exchange to knowledge exchange, and from knowledge exchange to joint innovation.

That could make universities, researchers and young people one of the strongest foundations of the next chapter in Jordan-China relations.

The author is a professor ofastrophysics andspacescienceandthevice-dean oftheFaculty of ScienceatAl-Balqa Applied University,Jordan.

The author contributed this article to China Watch, a think tank powered by China Daily. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

Contact the editor at editor@chinawatch.cn.