hanghai International Studies University (SISU) plans to offer a degree program in Cambodian language this autumn, which has been approved by the Ministry of Education, to promote cultural relations between China and Cambodia.

Eight to ten students will be recruited every four years to study Cambodian language at SISU’s School of Asian and African Studies. In additional to language couruses, students are expected to learn Cambodian culture from the perspectives of history, geography, anthropology, politics and economics. Its aim is to encourage students to explore deeper the knowledge about Khmer civilization and cultures of South Asian countries.

“With development of ‘the Belt and Road Initiative’, China has become the most important partner of Cambodia in trade and investment,” said Chen Xiaoli, the Council Chair of SISU’s School of Asian and African Studies.

Chen said that students proficient in Cambodian would become popular in the future talent market, and graduates of School of Asian and African Studies students would further study abroad or work in the government and well-known enterprises, including Huawei, ZTE and Hikvision.

SISU plans to recruit international scholars who are good at Cambodian language and culture, and send teachers to Cambodia, European and American countries for academic exchange in South Asian studies.

Students in this major will be supported by public funding to study in Cambodia through the program of the China Scholarship Council (CSC).

The School has also held academic exchange activities for faculty members and students with the help of the Consortium for Asian and African Studies (CAAS).

Cambodian, also called Khmer, has more than 16 million speakers. It is widely used in culture, trade, and tourism around Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

“Cambodian has a relatively simple grammar with no complex morphological change, and the phonological system is relatively easy to master with practice,” Chen added.

Except for Cambodian, SISU has offered courses in 51 languages so far, including 38 modern languages, 13 classical and constructed languages.