The 2017 Media Cooperation Forum on Belt and Road will kick off on Sept. 19 in Dunhuang, northwest China’s Gansu province. The event is meant to push forward the positive role of media in promoting the Belt and Road Initiative.

The international media forum will be attended by 265 media outlets from 126 countries. Hosted by the People’s Daily, the forum has been held for three years since 2014. Last year, the forum attracted 212 mainstream media outlets from 101 countries.

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China highly values the forum. “Media plays an essential role in communicating information, enhancing mutual trust, and building consensus. This forum provides a platform for media from many countries to engage in dialogue and practice cooperation,” Chinese President Xi Jinping said in his congratulatory message to the 2016 Media Cooperation Forum on Belt and Road.

This year’s media forum is an event held under the spirit of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in May, when President Xi called on people to stick to the Silk Road spirit of peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning, and mutual benefit.

Dunhuang, an ancient town on the old Silk Road, was an important intersection between East and West.

The upcoming forum will provide a high-end platform for major Chinese enterprises and domestic and international media to conduct dialogues. It will also open a window to the world to better understand the Belt and Road Initiative, the People’s Daily said in a notice about the media forum on Aug. 18.

Many topics will be discussed at the forum, including global coordination, the roles of governments and enterprises, smart manufacturing, the healthcare industry, the digital economy, and the cultural and tourism industry.

The forum will also host activities, including influential think tank seminars, themed speeches, high-end dialogues, and large-scale media tours.

Related: Foreign journalists on Belt and Road media tour of Gansu province

Amongst the projects, activities and sites being visited by the journalists during their four-day stay in Gansu province are the Jiayuguan Great Wall Museum, Silk Road Cultural Expo, Zongzhai Town Modern Agricultural Demonstration Area and Gobi Modern Agricultural Industrial Park. Others are the Kelu Wind Power Saving Project, Zhangzhi Cultural Industrial Park, Xuanzang Pilgrimage Museum, Mogao Grottoes, Mingsha (Singing Sand) Mountain, Crescent Moon Spring and the Silk Road and Flower Rain performance in Dunhuang.