China has for the first time approved a master degree in the teaching of Portuguese as a foreign language. It is the result of co-operation between Chinese and Portuguese higher education institutions, the newspaper Jornal Tribuna de Macau reported on Friday.

The Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, in China, and the University of Coimbra, in Portugal, will teach the course jointly. Macao Polytechnic Institute (MPI) will also play a role in the teaching, according to the news report.

“The first year [of the course] will be in Guangzhou, with our teachers [from MPI]; and the second year, for writing the thesis, will be taught partly in Coimbra and partly at the place chosen by the students,” said the Director of MPI’s Portuguese Language Teaching and Research Centre, Carlos André, as quoted by the newspaper.

Mr André said there are currently more than 2,500 people studying Portuguese in Mainland China and approximately 140 teachers, but “the vast majority of the latter do not have specialised training in teaching Portuguese as a foreign language”.

The new programme offers a Master degree issued by the University of Coimbra, he added. The course is due to launch in October.