BEIJING — The central government will launch a Belt and Road scholarship, which will sponsor students from countries along the routes to study in China, according to an action plan publicized on August 11.

The scholarship will sponsor 10,000 foreign students each year over the next five years, according to an action plan on education cooperation, published by the Ministry of Education.

In the next three years, the government will also sponsor 2,500 Chinese students to study in Belt and Road initiative nations each year, according to the document.

The Belt and Road initiative refers to the program of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road. It will be a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes.

The action plan also listed projects that would see the joint founding of schools and training for teachers and other professionals.