Learning Arabic is seen as a means of conquering markets in the Muslim world.

LINGWU, China — Chinese Muslims in the northwest region of Ningxia region are showing growing enthusiasm about learning Arabic, not simply because it is the mother tongue of their religion but as a ticket to well-paid jobs in the booming seaboard provinces.

"It is very helpful to promote our city's economic development and raise people's living standards," Shu Guobin, director of Yiwu's Arabic Language Service Center, told Reuters on Thursday, September 7.

The center was set up by the Ningxia city of Wuzhong.

Wu Jiangquan, the imam of a mosque in the nondescript town of Lingwu, concurred.

"But people are studying it because they feel they might have greater job opportunities," he said sporting a white skull cap.

Wu, himself teaching 10 students, estimates that 2,000 people are learning Arabic in Ningxia, noting that Arabic is being taught in some of the region's primary schools.

In 2003, Ningxia University opened an Arabic department.

Well-paid

In Yiwu, a trading hub in southeastern Zhejiang province whose rock-bottom prices draw swarms of buyers from across the globe, 700 Arabic speakers from Ningxia work as interpreters and translators, said Shu.

Another 300 work in Guangzhou.

Shu said interpreters earned 3,000 yuan ($1=7.953 Yuan) a month, rising to 10,000 or above -- more than they could earn in a year back home.

The autonomous region of Ningxia, the eighth-poorest of China's 31 provinces, is home to Hui Muslims, a recognized minority of several millions.

According to official data, China has 20 million Muslims, most of them concentrated in Xinjiang, Ningxia, Gansu and Qinghai regions and provinces.

Smaller Muslim minorities can also be found throughout interior China.

Islam came to China via Muslim businessman during the era of the Tang Dynasty.

There have also been reports of companions of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) coming to China.

Chinese Muslims have been complaining about government marginalization and neglect.

International human rights organizations have chided the Chinese government in several reports for its poor human rights record in predominantly Muslim regions, particularly Xinjiang.