LOS ANGELES (AP) — Lancaster officials are learning Mandarin in a campaign to lure Chinese business to the Los Angeles County desert town.

Some staff and officials have taken classes so they can greet Chinese trade delegations in their own language.

The city also is making a promotional video, has partnered with a Chinese sister city and is sending its own delegation to China.

The Antelope Valley bedroom community has a 17-percent unemployment rate and Mayor R. Rex Parris hopes the campaign will create jobs.

Asians comprise less than 4 percent of Lancaster's population and there are only about a dozen Chinese-owned businesses in town. Parris says the city considering establishing a bilingual English-Mandarin charter school to encourage more Asians to move to the city.

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Information from: Los Angeles Times