Thirteen senior editors and reporters from 12 countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative have gained a deeper understanding of China's development in the new era after a training program that concluded in Beijing on Wednesday.

Funded by the Dongfang Fellowship Program, which took the foreign journalists to Shanghai, Hangzhou and Beijing, the classes and cultural exchanges began on June 20. They were taught about the country's profound changes in the economic, political, cultural and ecological areas since its reform and opening-up 40 years ago.

The training program was jointly hosted by China Daily, Shanghai International Studies University and the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing. It was sponsored by China Eastern Airlines.

The goal of the program is to contribute to the journalists' professional development and eventually to promote the common development of China and all other countries and regions.