Tsinghua University in Beijing will begin in the next academic year offering a course in the Portuguese language to undergraduates that wish to learn it, Lusa reports.
The Portuguese news agency says this reflects the need in China for speakers of Portuguese that can engage with the lusophone world.
The report says the value of trade between China and the Portuguese-speaking world was U$147.35 billion last year, 25.3 percent more than the year before.
Two Chinese presidents, Xi Jinping and Hu Jintao, and other senior figures in China attended Tsinghua University, the report says.
Of the 34 universities in Mainland China that teach Portuguese, 25 award degrees in the subject, and over 1,500 Chinese are now doing courses in the language, Lusa says.
