Shihezi University and Xinjiang Normal University based in Urumqi are setting up Urdu and Farsi departments respectively and start enrolling students nationwide this summer, a Shihezi University press release on Monday said.

Urdu is the official language of Pakistan. In 2013, China and Pakistan started to build the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a 3,000-km network of roads, railways and pipelines linking Xinjiang's Kashgar and southwest Pakistan's Gwadar Port.

Farsi is the official language in Iran and Tajikistan, and a major language in Afghanistan.

Currently only six universities in China offer Farsi as a major, producing less than 500 people proficient in the language, Xinjiang's increasing cooperation in trade and counter-terrorism with Farsi-speaking countries requires more advanced Farsi language learners, it said.