Visitors watch a robot dance at the World Robot Conference 2017 in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 25, 2017. Over 300 artificial intelligent (AI) specialists and representatives of over 150 robot enterprises attended the conference. (Xinhua/Li Mingfang)

BEIJING, April 7 (Xinhua) -- A government program is training 500 university teachers and 5,000 students in artificial intelligence (AI).

The program organized by the Ministry of Education, Peking University and Innovation Works (a Beijing incubator) will continue for five years.

Last year, China's cabinet issued an AI development outline, stressing the need to train AI talent and attract the world's leading professionals to China.

The new program targets teachers and students alike. They will participate in training sessions and camps. Teachers of the course include American computer scientist John E. Hopcroft, a recipient of A.M. Turing Award and Kai-Fu Lee, venture capitalist and head of the Innovation Works research unit.

The program will train 100 teachers and 300 students this year.

Peking University vice principal Tian Gang said the school expects the program to become a model that can be expanded in universities across China.