More than 3,000 students from more than 20 countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative have shown interest in studying at Chinese business schools.

The Study in China program was launched in June by the Graduate Management Admission Council, the owner of the Graduate Management Admission Test, a standardized assessment that is widely used by graduate business administration programs. Students' applications and essays have been given to 11 leading business schools in China, according to Sangeet Chowfla, president and CEO of GMAC.

They include the Guanghua School of Management of Peking University, School of Economics and Management of Tsinghua University, School of Management of Fudan University and Business School of the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

As one of the countries with the most advanced and innovative business education programs, China is very attractive for students who want to take advantage of business opportunities presented by the country's rapid economic development, Chowfla said.

With more Chinese companies expanding their business abroad, especially to Belt and Road countries, there is a large demand for local talents who understand Chinese culture and the business environment, he said.

"Study in China will be a multi-year program and we will gradually increase the number of Chinese business schools, as well as Belt and Road countries participating in the program."

Belt and Road countries remained the largest source of international students in China in 2017. International students increased 11 percent last year to 317,200, about 65 percent of the overall total, according to the Ministry of Education.