CHINA plans to set up a scholarship designed exclusively for students coming to study in the country from nations involved in its initiatives to build a Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, China Daily reported yesterday, quoting an official with the Ministry of Education as saying.

    The “One Belt and One Road” scholarship aims to provide more support to students from those countries, Tian Lulu, with the ministry’s department of international cooperation and exchanges, said at an international forum on studying in China.

    Tian said the ministry is working on the design of the scholarship program, but she declined to provide more details. She said the ministry had noticed that the major sources of international students in China are changing, and it will draw up new policies as a result.

    “The number of students from some countries, such as South Korea, Japan and the United States, remains stable or has started to drop. But some neighboring countries, including India and Pakistan, are becoming emerging sources for international students in China,” Tian said.

    According to the Ministry of Education, Pakistan, with 13,360 students coming to study last year, was the eighth-largest source of international students in China, compared with being the 10th-largest in 2013.

    The number of students coming to study in China from India rose from 11,781 in 2013 to 13,578 last year, making India the seventh-largest source of China’s international students.

    “Against such a backdrop, we are considering providing more preferential policies to some border provinces and regions to help schools and other educational institutions recruit and accept more students from neighboring countries,” she said.

    The “One Belt and One Road” is a development strategy proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013. It refers to the New Silk Road Economic Belt, which will link China with Europe through Central and West Asia, and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, which will connect China with Southeast Asian countries, Africa and Europe.

    The program covers over 60 percent of the world’s population and nearly 30 percent of the global economic aggregate.

    The strategy has been warmly welcomed by other countries. So far, nearly 60 countries have expressed interest in participating in the program, according to Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

    (SD-Agencies)