Undertaken by Ningbo Polytechnic, the project is the first one-year non-degree vocational education and foreign aid training program run by China's Ministry of Commerce. It is also the first time that the Timor-Leste government has arranged a large group of students to receive training in China.

As the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) advances, the governments of Timor-Leste and China have frequent communications. There are numerous Chinese-funded enterprises and Chinese tourists in Timor-Leste. Therefore, after they returned home, some students worked in Chinese-funded enterprises and some in the tourism industry.

Some students are engaged in the tourism industry after they return to Timor-Leste. [Photo/zj.zjol.com.cn]

Elisa, a tourism services graduate, now is working in a travel agency in Timor-Leste. She said that studying in China had greatly improved her professional skills, helping her to find a job in her country. After getting back home, Elisa, together with seven other classmates, opened a Chinese restaurant.

At the invitation of da Costa Ferreira, Ningbo Polytechnic has decided to send a delegation to visit Timor-Leste in the second half of 2019 to establish further partnerships and boost talent training and cultivation in Timor-Leste, and make contributions to the development of the BRI.