The Israeli government plans to boost Chinese language teaching at all levels, and is thinking about making it a selected course for primary and middle school students, a senior Israeli education official said Wednesday.

Israel is planning to establish a multi-level Chinese language education system for different groups, Shlomo Alon, the Education Ministry's supervisor for Arabic, Chinese and Italian studies said at Israel's first Chinese Language Teaching Symposium held in Tel Aviv.

Israel decided to put Chinese in the curriculum since China and the Chinese people are so well integrated in new and sophisticated technologies, and because of the special relations between Israel and China, Alon told Xinhua.

As Chinese is becoming a foreign language more and more popular with Israelis, the ministry set up a special panel to boost Chinese language teaching in Israel early this year.

The Chinese Language Teaching Symposium, attended by education officials and experts from both Israel and China, was convened to discuss opportunities and challenges in Chinese teaching in Israel.

(Xinhua News Agency August 5, 2010)