CHENGDU, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Construction on the first China branch of the Westminster School, one of Britain's leading public schools, began in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, on Tuesday.

The branch is expected to begin its first autumn semester in 2020, offering bilingual education to about 2,000 Chinese and foreign students aged one to 18.

According to Rodney Harris, the Chengdu branch's headmaster, 50 percent of the teaching staff will be from the United Kingdom. He said the pupils enrolled will receive both the Chinese national curriculum and an English curriculum to prepare them for the international GCSE examinations as well as English A-levels.

He also said 10 percent of the enrollment will be reserved for students from poor families, with scholarships offered to cover the tuition.

Westminster School was founded in 1179. Its notable former pupils include many Nobel Prize winners, well-known authors, artists and politicians.

The school signed an agreement in 2017 with a Hong Kong education group called HKMETG to create branches in six major Chinese cities by 2028.