Tourism and education have become key points for people-to-people exchanges between China and Indonesia under the Belt and Road Initiative, according to China's embassy in Indonesia.
China is now the largest tourist source in Indonesia. In the first two months of this year, Chinese travelers made more than 400,000 trips to Indonesia. China is the second largest education destination for Indonesian students. Currently, 14,000 Indonesian students are studying in China. This year China is offering 200 government scholarships to Indonesian students.
It is the same situation for most ASEAN members. The number of students from the ASEAN's countries studying in China has risen from 50,000 in 2010 to more than 80,000 last year. Many young people in Southeast Asia study Chinese language to apply for scholarships to study in China in the future.
Now, the central government, local governments and universities all offer scholarships to overseas students, especially students from poverty-stricken families in Southeast Asian countries.
It is noteworthy that more and more ASEAN students come to China to study for degrees, instead of only learning Chinese language.
Last year, 210,000 foreign students came to study for academic degrees last year, up 13.63 percent year-on-year. The most popular majors are Western medicine, engineering, economics and management.
China-ASEAN people-to-people exchanges are expected to reach a new high, according to China's mission in ASEAN. Last year was the China-ASEAN Education Exchange Year, themed education and dream. The two sides organized nearly 300 activities, which further consolidates the foundation for the China-ASEAN Tourism Exchange Year, this year.
