The State of Qatar Chair in Middle Eastern Studies at Peking University (the Chair) was established during the state visit of H.H. Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani Emir of the State of Qatar to China in November 2014.

 

 

In November, 2014, Prof. Sheikha Abdulla Al-Misnad, President of Qatar University visited Beijing and held discussion with Prof. Wang Enge, President of Peking University on details for establishing the Chair.

 

The agreement of the Chair was signed on June 29th 2016, between Peking University (PKU) and the State of Qatar, acting through Qatar University (QU), and the Chair will be linked with the School of Foreign Languages at PKU and the College of Arts and Sciences at QU.

 

 

In October 2016, the endowment for the Chair Program was received by Peking University Education Foundation.

 

On January 20, 2017, the first meeting of the Oversight Committee of the Chair Program was held at Peking University, and recommended Dr. WU Bingbing as the Chair Professor.

 

On May 10, 2017, the second meeting of the Oversight Committee was held at Qatar University, and recommended Dr. WU Bingbing as professor of Qatar University.

 

On November 5, 2017, the third meeting of the Oversight Committee was held at Peking University.

 

In December 2017, Peking University confirmed the appointment of Dr. WU Bingbing as the Chair Professor and establishment of the Chair Program Committee consisting of Professor NING Qi, Dean of School of Foreign Languages, Peking University, Professor FU Zhiming, Vice Dean of School of Foreign Languages, Professor LIN Fengmin, Director of the Department of Arabic Language and Culture, and the Chair Professor WU Bingbing.

 

On May 6, 2018, the fourth meeting of the Oversight Committee was held at Peking University.

 

 

On October 30, 2018, the members of the Oversight Committee and the Chair Program Committee held a meeting in Doha, Qatar, to discuss the recent work of the Chair.