Exchange of letters boosts China-UAE ties

President Xi replies after schoolchildren write to him about nations' friendship

Du Qiangwei, a Chinese-language teacher in the United Arab Emirates, once thought that the belief that all foreigners love giant pandas was just a myth. But she reconsidered this notion after meeting Hamdan Shakhboot Al Nahyan, an Emirati pupil who named himself "Giant Panda" in Chinese.

In 2022, Hamdan transferred from a private school to the Hamdan Bin Zayed School, a public school in the UAE that introduced Chinese-language classes in 2006.

Du was impressed by the 11-year-old's keen interest in a book about how giant pandas are born and raised. "Sometimes I have to call him Da Xiongmao (Giant Panda) to get his attention," Du said.