By Dawan Africa - Reporter
Ethiopia, 6 December 2025 - Ethiopia’s Ministry of Education announced that high-level discussions have been held with China to explore the expansion of Chinese language instruction across the Ethiopian education system—reflecting the deepening strategic partnership between the two countries.
The talks took place during a meeting between Ethiopia’s Minister of Education, Professor Berhanu Nega, and a Chinese delegation led by Yu Yunfeng, Director-General of the Center for Language Education and Cooperation under China’s Ministry of Education.
According to the ministry, the discussions focused on strengthening educational cooperation between the two BRICS member states and examining opportunities to introduce Chinese language instruction more widely in Ethiopian academic institutions.
Yu Yunfeng underscored the strong ties between Ethiopia and China, describing Ethiopia as “a strategic partner of China,” and expressed his country’s readiness to expand Chinese language programs, which currently exist only in limited university settings. He noted that broader teaching of Mandarin “will enable citizens to acquire additional language skills and significantly enhance cooperation and people-to-people ties.”
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Professor Berhanu conveyed Ethiopia’s interest in scaling up Chinese language programs, noting that pilot initiatives have already begun in several universities.
He added that the next phase will involve expanding into new institutions, including five new federal secondary schools scheduled to open this academic year. The minister also requested China’s support in providing qualified Mandarin instructors.
Both sides agreed on the importance of developing a structured framework for teaching Chinese in secondary schools, and initiated preliminary discussions on curriculum development, textbook provision, and deploying Chinese teachers to support the planned expansion.
The ministry said a joint committee will be formed to draft a detailed agreement that will guide the implementation of the initiatives discussed during the meeting.