Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin will attend a meeting in Shanghai today of Asian-based Irish business executives.
Today is the fourth day of the Minister's visit to China and he has already met senior political leaders.
The meeting is being held as part of the Global Irish Network, which was launched following the Global Irish Economic Forum held at Farmleigh last September.
It will take place in the Irish Pavilion at Expo 2010 in the city.
Mr Martin said the issue of Chinese language competence was important for Irish involvement and he would like to see the language as an option on the Leaving Certificate curriculum.
The Minister will also attend functions at Fudan University and the Irish Consulate.
Find out more about the Irish Pavillion