TUNIS - China will offer five scholarships to Arabs on the Chinese BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS).

A statement after the second China-Arab States BDS Cooperation Forum held in the Tunisian capital Tunis said Tuesday that the BDS will offer the scholarships and provide more services to countries and regions involved in the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative.

The statement added that 18 short-term training courses have been offered since 2012 on Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) inside and outside China.

China's BDS is recognized globally along with the US GPS, Russian GLONASS and European Galileo systems.

Some 800 people received training earlier and some Chinese experts were sent to Tunisia, Egypt, Sudan, Morocco, Algeria and other Arab countries to provide training courses on BDS.

The China-Arab States BDS/GNSS Center, the first overseas BDS center, was set up in Tunis in 2018 to showcase the BDS technology and promote international exchanges and cooperation on the field.

The BDS, which went into trial operation in 2011 and started global service in later 2018, is a navigation satellite system independently developed by China.