The first Chinese school in Brazil, giving instruction in Mandarin, Portuguese and English, has opened in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Estadão reports.

The Brazilian newspaper says the Escola Chinesa Internacional is supported by the authorities in China and financed by Chinese living in Brazil.

The report quotes School Director Yuan Aiping as saying she hopes cultural exchanges will abound, as 30 of the 50 or so pupils are Brazilian and 15 are Chinese.

The report quotes a Rio de Janeiro city official, Pedro Paulo, whose two sons attend the school, as saying it can prepare its pupils for Chinese tertiary education, having made arrangements to send them on to any of nine Chinese universities.

The school means to open this year a branch in the city of São Paulo, where the lion’s share of the 300,000 Chinese in Brazil live, Estadão says.