Teaching Chinese language officially began in more than 30 primary and secondary schools in Serbia on Monday, a pilot project agreed in the framework of a cooperation agreement between Serbia and China.

A total of 2,462 students from 31 schools under the school administrations of the cities of Belgrade, Nis, Kragujevac, Zajecar, Pozarevac, Jagodina, Uzice and Leskovac have applied to attend the facultative classes of the Chinese language, the Ministry of Education and Science has told Tanjug.

The optional classes will be held by a total of 14 volunteer teachers from China, and the pilot project will be completed on December 31, after which it will be evaluated. Its introduction into the Serbian education system will depend on the evaluation results.

The Chinese language has so far been studied at the Philological and Mathematical High Schools, the Eight and Thirteenth High Schools in Belgrade, the High School in Sremski Karlovci, northern Serbia, and the Belgrade University Faculty of Philology.

The memorandum on cooperation regarding the implementation of the pilot project dubbed 'Learning the Chinese language at primary and secondary schools in Serbia' was signed by Minister of Education and Science Zarko Obradovic and Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to Serbia Zhang Wanxue last week.

The relevant textbooks and didactic aids have been provided by the Chinese government and are available to students free of charge.