Nizar Alshukali, a student from the University of Technology and Applied Sciences (UTAS) in Oman, was among more than 60 UTAS students and faculty who recently visited Kingsoft Office in Zhuhai, Guangdong province in south China, a key regional branch and developer of the widely used WPS Office productivity suite.

Although it was their first time in Zhuhai and their first visit to Kingsoft, some of the students were already longtime WPS users. Alshukali tested the full range of AI features of the product on site and found it more advanced and practical than he expected. "The answers it gives are more logical than generic AI tools," he said. "It understands my context and produces output aligned with local academic standards."

Tailored features

For Omani students, writing a research paper has long meant navigating a linguistic tightrope: the main text is in Arabic, but the professional terminology, abstracts and references are in English. It is not a choice — it is the academic practice.

For years, traditional office software struggled to handle the back-and-forth between Arabic, which reads right-to-left (RTL), and English, which reads left-to-right (LTR). Formatting chaos was a routine frustration.

Omani students and researchers had long wanted tools that understand their context and meet their needs. Kingsoft Office addresses this gap by supporting Arabic interface and RTL typography — solving the mixed-script typesetting problem at the underlying technology level. For students juggling deadlines, that makes a tangible difference.

A long-standing gap

For decades, the global office software market was dominated by Western giants whose products were optimized for European and American language logic and workflow paradigms. That left significant gaps in emerging markets, where multi-language mixed typesetting, regional office habits, and lightweight educational scenarios demanded different capabilities.

As China's digital economy expands globally, its AI-powered office software industry has matured rapidly. Leading office software companies, represented by Kingsoft Office, have seized this opportunity.

Through proprietary technology development, deep local market engagement, and accessible product offerings, they have gained significant traction in Southeast Asia and the Middle East — regions where traditional players were slow to adapt.

Forging partnership

The UTAS visit also opened the door to deeper institutional cooperation. Kingsoft Office and UTAS reached a preliminary agreement to collaborate on Arabic-language office software co-development, talent cultivation, and internship exchanges.

"AI technology advances at an unprecedented pace, and digital education transformation is no longer optional but essential. We need to partner with more companies in this field," said UTAS assistant vice chancellor Nihad Abdullah Mohammed Al-Zadjali. "In Oman, our faculty and students want AI products that are more compatible, easier to use and more accessible — allowing AI to deliver real value in daily teaching. I think this is something worth exploring together."

Today, WPS Office serves over 220 countries and regions worldwide. In Indonesia, WPS for Pad topped the App Store's free app chart, while WPS for Mac ranked first on the business chart.

Beyond user adoption, institutional partnerships are deepening. Hussain Alhammadi, the UAE ambassador to China, said that WPS's comprehensive AI suite could effectively adapt to Middle Eastern government and educational scenarios. Discussions are underway to deploy WPS 365 across UAE government departments and to collaborate with local universities on AI talent development.

Forbes recently labeled Kingsoft Office's AI strategy as "a revolution" and called it "the most practical path to its AI-native future."

Industry observers note that the rise of Chinese AI-powered office software represents an evolving model of technology exports — moving beyond simple product sales to include technology transfer, ecosystem building, and talent development. What began as a practical solution to a local problem — Arabic-English mixed typesetting — has become a case study in how locally grounded innovation can resonate globally.