Language choices in year 7

[Wobblypig]

DS has to select a preference for his language choices in year 7. They have to do Latin and then can chose 2 from French, Spanish, German and mandarin. He has done some French before.
DH thinks mandarin is obvious choice but they have to stick to this choice for 3 years and I think it’s a risk. It may be very hard and he may hate it. Spanish would obviously be easier with French and Latin studied before, whilst German sounds like a complete waste of time to me but DH says it’s good for business.
Anyone with experience of similar choices and specifically mandarin?

Thanks

Our exports, in terms of £, are to USA, Germany, France, Netherlands and Ireland. In that order. No Spanish speaking or Mandarin speaking country is particularly high up the list. We export to China about 1/3 of what we do to France. About £6 billion. If you are making a business case, German and French are significantly more important.