BEIJING - China has trained more than 5,000 overseas students pursuing Master of Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages (MTCSOL) degrees.

Since the MTCSOL was set up in 2007, 5,052 students from more than 100 countries have studied in China. About 3,500 have graduated, most of whom have returned to their own countries to teach Chinese, said officials with the Confucius Institutes. The Confucius Institutes were established in 2004 as a tool to help non-native speakers learn the Chinese language.

Another 15,741 Chinese students have also pursued the degree, officials said on the sidelines of an MTCSOL teaching competition organized by the Confucius Institutes in Beijing on Saturday and Sunday.

Winners will have the opportunity to join the headquarters of the institutes to become professional teachers.