BEIJING, May 30 (Xinhua) -- A district in Beijing Municipality is promoting pilot projects for opening artificial intelligence (AI) courses in elementary schools, according to the local education department.

Dongcheng District, which lies at the heart of the capital, has picked six elementary schools for pilot AI classes this year, and will promote such classes in more schools starting September, according to the department.

The department has also compiled a textbook for teaching AI in elementary school, which introduces the technology in the form of games or daily practices.

Beijing is not the only Chinese city to offer pupils AI courses. Shanghai has launched such pilot programs among pupils and Shanghai-based East China Normal University Press has also issued a 10-volume textbook series on AI.

China's Ministry of Education issued a directive in March, asking for AI courses to be offered at primary and secondary schools, and efforts to popularize programming education in steps.