SHENZHEN'S first school for Japanese children opened in Shekou, Nanshan District, on Friday.

The school, sponsored by several Japanese companies led by Shenzhen Fuji Xerox, has enrolled 39 students from primary Grade 1 to junior high Grade 3.

With 17 teachers on staff at present, the school offers nine-year courses, with English and Chinese as the foreign languages.

It will move from its present premises in Shekou to a new campus in three years after a school building is completed. It is the 13th Japanese school on the Chinese mainland.

Establishing a school for Japanese children in Shenzhen was a priority of the city government, said Vice Mayor Yan Xiaopei while attending the opening ceremony.

The school will play a vital role in the lives of Japanese people who intend to live and work in Shenzhen for a long period of time and also help the city attract more investment from Japan, she said.

The Shenzhen Japanese Chamber of Commerce proposed four years ago that a school be set up for the children of Japanese people who live in the city.

Earlier reports said more than 10,000 Japanese people live in Shenzhen at present, and around 1 million Japanese visit the city every year.

(Mu Zi)