Department of Languages and Cultures head Associate Prof Paola Voci and lecturer Lorraine Wong both said they had received requests from local businesses to translate documents into Chinese.
The new CHIN250 paper is geared towards both native English speakers who are proficient in Chinese, and Chinese students studying at the university, and is designed to fit in with degrees like commerce or science as well as the humanities.
Prof Voci thought it could appeal to students whose parents or grandparents might be Chinese, and who had some knowledge of the language and wanted to use it.
She stressed the paper could not be compared to a professional translation course, but said it was ''a first step'' for students to use their language skills to translate, and students would finish with a portfolio of work.
The tourism industry and the film and television industry were examples of areas where translation skills were useful.
Prof Voci also believed people working in the healthcare sector could benefit from Chinese language translation skills.
Health professionals who had already left university could take the course as an interest paper, she said.
Suzanne Sun, who has worked as a professional translator, would be one of the lecturers taking the course.
She said the translation paper would be flexible enough to help people involved in a variety of different fields, and give students an understanding of what clients would expect.
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