Students from the new school of soccer pose for a picture after the launching ceremony. [Photo by Huang Zhiling/chinadaily.com.cn]

A brief ceremony was held on Wednesday in front of the Chengdu Sports Institute's library, in the capital city of Southwest China's Sichuan province, to kick off the new school of soccer.

"It is the first school of soccer at an institution of higher learning in West China," said Ou Xuesong, an information officer with the institute.

The new school consists of soccer and soccer education departments, as well as a soccer development and research center.

"The school will train students with the technical secondary school degree, bachelor's degree, master's degree and doctoral degree," Ou said.

In April last year, the institute made headlines when it became the first Chinese institution of higher learning to launch a department of soccer.