Mozambique’s Eduardo Mondlane University officially opened last week a new degree course in Chinese, reports Chinese state-run broadcaster China Radio International (CRI).

The Confucius Institute at the university will manage the four-year course. A total of 200 candidates have applied, and 30 have been selected to attend the classes this year, according to the report.

China’s Ambassador to Mozambique Su Jian said at the opening ceremony of the course – as quoted by the media outlet – that the newly launched programme in Chinese represented a new step in educational exchange and co-operation between the two countries.

Mr Su noted that students would be allowed to improve their knowledge on China and Asia, as well as they would introduce Mozambique to Chinese people. The exchange would promote the development of political, economic and cultural bilateral relations, he added.

The Confucius Institute is a non-profit education organisation – affiliated with China’s Ministry of Education – aimed at promoting Chinese language. The institute at Eduardo Mondlane University was launched in 2012 and has since provided training to 2,300 students, CRI reported.