Foreign students from countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative pose for a group photo at an outdoor activity. [Photo/zj.zjol.com]

Ningbo University has proven to be a popular destination for foreign students from countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), receiving around 5,000 of them, more than any other school of higher learning in Zhejiang. 

The result is partly attributable to the fact that Ningbo has increased cooperation with BRI countries in student exchanges since the initiative was put forward five years ago.

The exchange students either started businesses in Ningbo or returned to their home country after graduation, and helped to strengthen ties between the two sides.

Foreign students from Ningbo University learn to make rice dumplings. [Photo/zj.zjol.com]

Hua Yuese (Chinese name) from Uganda studies medicine at the university and will graduate this June. He plans to pursue a master's degree at the school and go back to Uganda to be a doctor.

"My home country has a shortage of medical resources and doctors, so I want to use what I have learned here to help people back home," said Hua.

Mao Yabo (Chinese name) from Benin in Africa established a washing powder trading company when studying at the university. His company sold 442 metric tons of washing powder to African countries last year, and provided many jobs to African people by setting up agencies there.

Ming Zhe (Chinese name) from Bangladesh set up a trade service company named Shadmart™ in 2015 to deal with imports and exports between China and Bangladesh. The company provides the most professional and comprehensive services for China-Bangladesh trade. Its e-commerce website – shadmart.com – is the only one in China to sell Chinese goods to Bangladesh.

Among the 1041 Indonesian students that the university has so far received, most managed to find jobs in large Chinese-funded companies in Indonesia after graduation, such as Huawei and the Bank of China.

Foreign medical students from Ningbo University practice at a hospital in Ningbo. [Photo/zj.zjol.com]

The Ministry of Education and Ningbo Municipal Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Feb 18 in Beijing to promote BRI educational cooperation, which has opened a new chapter in Ningbo's educational opening-up to the outside world.