BRUSSELS, March 6 -- The University of Mons in Belgium officially launched a master program on Chinese studies on Friday, a move to meet growing demand from university applicants to study Chinese as a second language.

A total of 40 students are expected to be enrolled in September this year under the program, which will be managed by the school of translation and interpretation. The school also launched a master program on Arabic language on Friday.

Chinese Ambassador to Belgium Qu Xing, who joined Mons mayor Elio Di Rupo and rector of the University of Mons Calogero Conti to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony, called on China and Belgium to strengthen educational exchanges.

Linguistic and cultural exchanges are important braces for political and economic cooperation, as well as positive factors to advance and guarantee deepened cooperation between China and Belgium, according to the ambassador, who delivered a keynote speech after the ribbon-cutting ceremony at a lecture hall.

The University of Mons is the first higher education institution in southwestern part of Belgium to have a master degree on Chinese studies.

According to an official with the university's school of translation and interpretation, the introduction of the program came at a time when a growing number of European students hope to have a chance to learn advanced Chinese and benefit from China-Europe cooperation.

China and Belgium have witnessed a good momentum of educational and linguistic exchanges in recent years. Nearly 1,000 Belgian students are studying in China currently, while Belgium is home to four Confucius Institutes. Currently, nearly 50 middle and primary schools in Belgium provided Chinese classes, according to statistics revealed by the Chinese embassy to Belgium.

Located in the city of Mons, the University of Mons is a Belgian university created by merging the Faculty of Engineering of Mons and the University of Mons-Hainaut in 2009. The creation of the Faculty of Engineering of Mons is dated back to 1837.