XI'AN, China — Participants in the 2026 Belt and Road International Think Tank Cooperation Forum and the Fourth Silk Road Xi'an International Communication Conference called for stronger international cooperation in research, trade, technology and cultural exchanges, highlighting the role of think tanks and media in supporting Belt and Road development.

 

The opening session brought together participants from more than 10 countries and regions to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation and promote mutual understanding.

 

Shaanxi Governor Zhao Gang said the Belt and Road Initiative, launched 13 years ago, had developed from a proposal into a platform for practical international cooperation, with Shaanxi playing an important role in connectivity between China and countries along the routes.

 

He said the China-Europe freight train service from Xi'an had established 18 regular international routes covering 45 countries and regions, completing more than 35,000 trips, or around one-quarter of China's total.

 

Xi'an International Port has an annual transport capacity of 66 million tonnes, while Xi'an Xianyang International Airport operates 93 international cargo routes and connects with all five Central Asian countries.

 

Zhao said Shaanxi's foreign trade had exceeded 400 billion yuan and 500 billion yuan during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, recording average annual growth of 6.5 per cent. Trade with Belt and Road countries and Central Asia grew by annual averages of 11.7 per cent and 63 per cent, respectively.

 

During the first three quarters, the province had nearly 8,000 foreign trade enterprises, an increase of 1.1 times, while trade with Belt and Road countries accounted for more than 60 per cent of its total foreign trade, he said.

 

Zhao also highlighted cooperation in education and tourism, including the establishment of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Higher Education Cooperation Centre and the launch of the first China-Central Asia cultural tourism train service. Shaanxi received 920,000 inbound tourists last year, up 98 per cent.

 

Xinhua News Agency Editor-in-Chief Lyu Yansong said the ancient Silk Road had connected China with other regions for centuries, recalling that Zhang Qian had set out from Chang'an more than 2,100 years ago.

 

He said modernisation should not be viewed as a model exclusive to Western countries, noting that each country had its own history, culture and development priorities.

 

Lyu also called for broader cooperation through infrastructure, trade, cultural exchanges, education and research, adding that think tanks and media could help promote mutual understanding and contribute ideas to international cooperation.

 

Jao Huijie, secretary of the Communist Party of China Xi'an Municipal Committee, highlighted the city's research and industrial capabilities. Xi'an is home to 84 universities, more than 1,400 research institutions, 41 national key laboratories and more than one million science and technology personnel, he said.

 

The city also has more than 16,000 high-tech enterprises and 20,000 technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises. Its research and development expenditure accounted for 5.33 per cent of gross domestic product last year, Gao said.

 

He also pointed to Xi'an's growing international economic links, saying the city maintained trade relations with 217 countries and regions and was home to investments or branches of 255 Fortune Global 500 companies.

 

Zafar Uddin Mahmood, special Representative of the Pakistani prime minister for China Affairs and the chairman of the Understanding China Forum, stressed that Belt and Road cooperation should extend beyond infrastructure and investment to include technology transfer, local capacity-building, education and people-to-people exchanges.

 

He also highlighted the importance of youth engagement and cooperation among countries of the Global South.

 

Wu Guosheng, secretary of the Communist Party of China committee at Xi'an Jiaotong University, said that the university had established the Silk Road University Alliance in 2015. The alliance now includes 220 universities in 46 countries and promotes cooperation in fields including aerospace, materials science and global health.

 

The conference also highlighted a Central Asia comprehensive information service platform jointly developed by Xinhua and Shaanxi to support information exchange and cooperation in trade and industry.

 

The Belt and Road Think Tank Cooperation Committee, established in 2019 and chaired by Xinhua, now has 140 member institutions, according to the conference.