A summer exercise in engagement with communities involving university students from across the country was launched at the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) in Beijing.
Organized by the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League, Ministry of Education and Sina Weibo, China's microblog platform, it will last until the end of August.
Representatives from universities in One Belt And One Road (OBAOR) areas, such as Shihezi University in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and Lanzhou University in Gansu province, took part in the opening ceremony.
About 300 teams from 100 colleges and universities, comprising 5,000 students, were selected to join the exercise. They will tour Northwest, Southwest and Southeast China to conduct social investigations on topics concerning aspects of the OBAOR such as economy, history, culture and social issues.
More than 130 professors from universities all over the country, headed by Wang Zhimin, a professor at UIBE and an expert known for his research into OBAOR, will lead and guide the students.
According to Li Ji, a senior official with the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League, community engagement differs from previous exercises closely connected with the national strategy of the Belt and Road Initiative, implemented by President Xi Jinping.
"We hope students will participate in the national strategy, make their contrition and achieve personal growth during the process," Li said.
Wang Ling, Party chief of UIBE said she hoped students could get to know more about the OBAOR areas, and get to know and get along with each other.
A white paper and documentary based on participants' observations and findings will be released.
