China is solidifying its role as a leader in the 21st century’s global economy. Career-minded college students in the United States are taking note. And that has created another opportunity for Boston-area publisher, entrepreneur, and deal maker Nader F. Darehshori.

Capitalizing on a rush to learn Mandarin, the language of Chinese commerce, Darehshori’s latest start-up, Aptius Education Inc., of Wellesley, has struck a partnership with a Beijing university press to distribute Mandarin textbooks and educational materials to colleges in the United States and other English-speaking countries.

“This is the fastest-growing language in higher education,” said Darehshori, 71, the Aptius cofounder who spent a dozen years as chief executive of the Boston educational publisher Houghton Mifflin and was one of the region’s best-known executives. “There are large numbers of American students and business people taking Chinese. If you want to sell something in China, it helps to know their language.”

While it’s common for Chinese business travelers to have a working knowledge of English, comparatively few of their American counterparts have mastered Mandarin. But that is starting to change, said Dexiang Qi, president and editor in chief of Beijing Language and Culture University Press, which will supply Mandarin textbooks, CD-ROMs, and video to Aptius. The partnership, which had been months in negotiations, was formally established last week.

Under terms of the partnership, Aptius will market and distribute multimedia materials from the Beijing university press to English-speaking customers throughout the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, India, and South Africa.

One factor driving the new interest in China, suggested Qi, was last summer’s Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, which showcased the nation’s emergence as a major player on the global stage.

“Especially after the Olympic Games, more people want to learn Chinese,” said Qi, whose university press exports materials for Chinese-as-a-second-language programs worldwide. In the future, he said, foreigners seeking to tap the Chinese market will be expected to know the language. “An interpreter is important,” Qi said. “But to do business in China, you have to socialize with the Chinese.”

Aptius was started about 18 months ago, after the indefatigable Darehshori sold his previous business, Cambium Learning Inc., of Natick – it focused on educational software and printed materials for special education – to the buy-out firm Veronis Suhler Stevenson.

For financial backing at his new venture, Darehshori tapped Cambium investor Bill Laverack and Soros Fund Management LLC, a private equity fund under the umbrella of investor George Soros. Together, they have agreed to provide more than $100 million in financing.

The goal, as with Cambium, is to build Aptius by rolling up smaller companies, this time in the market for vocational and technical training materials. The first acquisition came last July, when Aptius purchased Axzo Press of Rochester, N.Y., for an undisclosed price.

“What we’ve identified this time is a segment of higher education that’s been underserved by the major publishers,” said Laverack, principal at Laverack Capital Partners LLC of New Canaan, Conn. “We’re focusing on education of seven weeks up to two years for professionals that need certification in industry sectors. These could be healthcare professionals, welders, carpenters, auto mechanics, or someone who wants to run a hair salon or a nail salon.”

While the sale of Mandarin-language educational materials would not seem to fit neatly into that market category, the common thread is an emphasis on career advancement. Many Aptius customers are the same junior colleges and community colleges that run certification programs for various professions.

Aptius anticipates the Mandarin program will be one of its fastest-growing niches in coming years. That won’t make it easy for English-speaking students to learn the difficult Chinese dialect, but through the partnership with the Beijing university press, they will have more multimedia resources at their disposal than ever before.

“It’s a very difficult language to learn,” Laverack acknowledged. “But this is a very real opportunity because this Beijing university has lots and lots of content. And young people recognize that this is a language that could really help their careers.”