The Chinese government given 14 São Toméans scholarships to pursue first degrees or postgraduate degrees in China, STP-Press reports, quoting a Chinese diplomat in São Tomé e Príncipe, Fu Changhua.

The São Toméan state-run news agency quotes Mr Fu as saying in a published article that since the branch of the Confucius Institute at the University of São Tomé e Príncipe was set up, over 300 students have enrolled for classes in the Chinese language.

Mr Fu wrote that, despite the Covid-19 pandemic, 10 students of the university or middle-school pupils had competed in the first-ever São Toméan heat of the Chinese Bridge, an annual competition among students of Chinese language and culture around the world, STP-Press says.