BEIJING -- More than 350,000 Chinese students have studied in countries along the Belt and Road since 2012, according to Vice Minister of Education Tian Xuejun.

Some 11,900 of them were sponsored by the Chinese government, Tian said.

By the end of April 2017, China had signed 45 agreements on education cooperation with Belt and Road countries, he said. Diplomas issued by universities from China and 24 such countries are mutually recognized.

The Chinese government has also increased the number of scholarships for students from the Belt and Road countries to study in China.

In addition, 3,454 Chinese students have studied local languages in Belt and Road countries since 2012. By March 2017, 137 Confucius Institutes had been established in 53 countries along the routes to promote the study of Chinese.