Almokhem Abdulaziz from Saudi Arabia is among an increasing number of foreign students at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, thanks to the Belt and Road Initiative.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Meanwhile, more than 350,000 Chinese students have studied in countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative since 2012, Tian Xuejun, vice-minister of education, said at a recent media conference in Beijing. Some 11,900 of them were sponsored by the Chinese government, he added.

Almokhem Abdulaziz from Saudi Arabia, majoring in finance at UIBE, says he chose China to understand the country's thoughts and ideas.

"The most important advantage of studying here is mastering the Chinese language and learning about the country's culture," he says.

Scholarships for Saudi Arabian students come mainly from the Saudi Arabian cultural mission and the ministry of education, where top students are sent abroad to study in elite universities.

As for Abdulaziz, he got his scholarship from Aramco, an oil company in his country.

He heard about the Belt and Road Initiative early on as his professors talked about it.

And, he learned more about it in 2016 when President Xi Jinping visited Saudi Arabia.

"The visit improved the relationship between the two countries, and I started to learn more about it (the initiative). It also influences students' lives by changing their perspectives. Also, we will have many job opportunities in the future, especially in the industrial, political and commercial sectors," he says.

Abdulaziz says he had little knowledge of Chinese culture before he came to the country in 2014.

"But after living in China, I realize that there are many similarities between Chinese and Saudi Arabian cultures especially when it comes to extended families and respecting and taking care of elders, which are different from Western culture," he says.

Abdulaziz says that understanding different cultures is important if we are to live in peace and develop as countries.

"We have to focus on this to accomplish the vision of the Belt and Road Initiative," he says.