Learning Chinese is a class act for students in Ethiopia

According to Beriso, as language contributes to deepening the relationship between the two countries, teaching the Chinese language would further strengthen the already blossoming people-to-people ties with the Asian nation. "Teaching our children the Chinese language is important. We are also sending students to China for scholarships."

The Chinese language is provided as a general interest course or an academic major in many public universities across Ethiopia.

The Confucius Institute at the Addis Ababa University, which started operation in Ethiopia in 2012, has so far registered more than 10,000 students, who have passed through various levels of Chinese language studies. Among them, more than 100 were able to get their bachelor's degrees in the Chinese language, according to the institute.

As a growing number of Ethiopians opt to study the Chinese language, the university has recently announced that it has finalized preparations to launch the first-ever Master of Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages program in the East African country. It is a two-year, full-time program, according to the Confucius Institute, in which students study core lessons based at the university in the first year, and qualified students will receive further education in Chinese language teaching at Tianjin University of Technology and Education in China.