Five thousand places will be offered by China to support training and cooperative research in an innovative talent exchange project over the next five years, Chinese president Xi Jinping said in a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) in Beijing Friday.

The president emphasized the importance of cultural and people-to-people exchange among Belt and Road countries. To realize this, he advocated in-depth cooperation in education, science, culture, sports, tourism, health care, archaeology and other areas.

To form an interactive communication flow between various countries, Xi said the exchanges between parliaments, parties, and NGOs should be reinforced, while more frequent communications between women, youth and the disabled should be strengthened.

In the next five years, China will invite 10,000 representatives from parties, think tanks, and NGOs from the Belt and Road countries to come to China on exchange programs.

China will also jointly carry out training projects together with other participating countries in areas like environmental protection and anti-corruption, and strengthen cooperation in human resources in industries.

The Silk Road Chinese government scholarship program will be continued, Xi said, and activities like the International Youth Forum on Creativity and Heritage, and the Chinese Bridge Summer Camp will go on.

To unite the wisdom and power of all countries, China will also co-build new mechanisms like a Belt and Road international think tank cooperation committee and the Belt and Road news alliance.

Heads of state and government from 37 countries and other representatives from around the world are taking part in the three-day forum, which runs until April 27.

BRF is a top-level platform for international cooperation under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, which was first proposed by President Xi in 2013.