Fifteen Djiboutians who enrolled for a certificate course in the Chinese language at the Djibouti Institute of Diplomatic Studies (IED), were this week given their certificates for level 1 and 2.

The graduates who included officials from both public and private sector, were awarded their certificates during a ceremony attended by Chinese Ambassador to Djibouti, Fu Huaqiang.

This is the first group of Djiboutians trained in Chinese language at the IED which was constructed last year using grant from China.

Zahra Arale Riale, a secretary in Djibouti's energy ministry, said that getting the first certificate in Chinese language was a dream coming true.

"I love the Chinese language because I have always been fascinated by the Chinese culture that dates back several centuries. For me, it was first the love of the culture. But today, China is Djibouti's first economic and trade partner," she told Xinhua.

Osman Abdi, another Djiboutian civil servant, said that he picked the interest to learn the Chinese language from his two young daughters who were learning the language in their school.

"The ease with which my daughters learnt Chinese pushed me to get interested in this language which is not complicated at all. This is why I also decided to enrol at the Institute of Diplomatic Studies. Today, the results are there and I do not intend to stop, " he said.

Besides him, was Haybado Abdourahman, an employee in the office of Djibouti's president. Unlike other students, Haybado started Chinese language classes "two months late."

However, she told Xinhua, this did not prevent her from "working hard" to recover the lost time and be at the same level with her classmates.

Asked what motivated her to study the language, Haybado said that it was "the solidity of the cooperation between my country and China which, in recent days, was strengthened by the construction of ports, airports and railway infrastructures."

"I have been telling my colleagues that Chinese is the language of the future. It is an easy language. In future I want to speak the language like the Chinese," Haybado promised.

The top student, Mirane Isman, who works at the national broadcaster, Djibouti Radio Television, said she was "proud of having been position one in the Chinese language class."

She expressed optimism that she will get a scholarship to improve her Chinese language skills in China.