URUMQI, July 13 -- Fifty-five cities from 17 countries will join the Silk Road Economic Belt Cities Cooperation and Development Forum in Xinjiang this month, local authorities said on Monday.

During the forum, which will be held from July 23 to 25 in the regional capital of Urumqi, officials, academics and entrepreneurs from the cities will exchange development experience and explore cooperation in trade, industry, the Internet and infrastructure, according to the local government of Urumqi.

Besides the 55 cities from countries including Britain, Germany, Russia and Afghanistan, the forum will also attract representatives from foreign embassies and consulates, Chinese embassies and consulates overseas, NGOs and foreign commerce chambers.

This will be the third time that Urumqi has hosted the forum. The first and second were held in November 2013 and September 2014.

The ancient Silk Road was a 7,000-km-long pathway created by camel-driving merchants who carried silk and porcelain to Western Europe and spices to the Far East 2,000 years ago. The land defined as the new Silk Road, covers 18 Asian And European countries with a population of about three billion people.

Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed the Silk Road Economic Belt in 2013 as an overland network focused on boosting international trade and cooperation on infrastructure projects with Central, South and West Asian countries.