Editor's Note: 2023 marks the tenth anniversary since the Belt and Road Initiative was launched, which has greatly enhanced trade cooperation and related infrastructure with nations from six continents worldwide. Chongqing is located at a critical juncture between the BRI and Yangtze River economic belt, which has raised interest amongst young students worldwide to undertake degree programs at universities based in the city, with many taking advantage of BRI scholarships to foster skills and contribute to development in their respective countries. In this series, iChongqing reporter James Alexander meets with overseas students from five top universities in Chongqing to learn about their impressions of life and study.

Chongqing- Strolling alongside the carefully tended lawns and resplendent lake waters, we met Celestin Nduwimana, a master's student from Rwanda who admires the elite status that Chongqing University enjoys and recommends the city for its reasonable cost of living. 

Jaruwan Wittayaphoom is a graduate student from Thailand studying Chinese International Education and sees great potential in this career path thanks to the many Chinese tourists and investors who travel there.

Celestin has found the beautiful campuses a perfect environment to study and has also benefitted from practical experience gained through four competitions, which allowed him to cooperate with Chinese students and business people, giving him an advantage over peers back home. 

Away from honing teaching skills, Jaruwan loves the shining lights of Hongya Cave in downtown Chongqing come nighttime and enjoys the warm company of locals, whose optimistic and open mindset allows international students to integrate smoothly into life here.

Chen Ying, Deputy Director of the Center of International Students Mobility Service, explained to iChongqing that CQU has admitted international students since the 1980s, and about 1900 enrolled in 2019. 

The most popular degree programs for them cover a wide range of subjects, including Chinese Language, Business Administration, Architecture, Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Computer Science and Software Engineering.