Education Minister Anne Tolley has launched a Chinese language online learning resource for New Zealand schools, while attending Education Week at the World Expo in Shanghai.

The launch took place at the New Zealand-China forum on Mandarin language teaching.

"New Zealanders need to be equipped with the skills and knowledge to operate effectively in international environments such as China," says Mrs Tolley.

"Learning new languages is an important way of achieving this. Not only does it give students a new skill, it connects them to other cultures.

"The number of students learning Chinese language in New Zealand schools has almost doubled in the last five years, and we want even more of our young people to develop what is an important asset." 

The online resource, "Chinese language in New Zealand schools", provides case studies as examples of how schools have introduced and developed their Chinese language programmes, to help other schools with their implementation.

The resource can be accessed at http://asia-knowledge.tki.org.nz/

Mrs Tolley and Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce are leading a delegation of 80 New Zealand representatives from universities, polytechnics and schools during Education Week at the World Expo, to build new relationships and showcase New Zealand education.