Belt and Road Studies Network holds 2022 Initiators Council meeting

The Belt and Road Studies Network holds a meeting of its Initiators Council, both online and offline, Dec. 27, 2022. (Xinhua/Xing Guangli)

BEIJING, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- The 2022 meeting of the Initiators Council of the Belt and Road Studies Network (BRSN) was convened on Tuesday, with participants attending both in person and online.

The council reviewed its work over the past year, discussed work for the next stage, passed a decision on revising the council's charter, and elected a new chairperson and a new vice chairperson.

A campaign was also launched to gather research reports by think tanks around the world on topics related to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Fu Hua, the newly elected chairperson of the council and president of Xinhua News Agency, delivered a keynote speech during the meeting.

The Belt and Road Studies Network holds a meeting of its Initiators Council, both online and offline, Dec. 27, 2022. (Xinhua/Xing Guangli)

Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed the BRI in 2013, Fu said, and over the past nearly 10 years, the BRI has continued advancing and producing concrete outcomes, and has made great contributions to global development.

Noting the expectation of the high-quality development of the BRI from the international community, Fu called on the think tanks to play their roles as intellectual and communication platforms to jointly promote the progress of the initiative, enhance people-to-people exchanges, and better tell the stories of the BRI.

Nine representatives of Chinese and foreign think tanks attending the meeting shared their studies, and expressed willingness to submit research reports and further enhance exchanges and cooperation. They also agreed to utilize the opportunities presented by the 10th anniversary of the BRI next year, promote BRI cooperation among think tanks to a new level, and facilitate the high-quality development of the BRI.

The meeting was presided over by Zhao Cheng, the newly elected vice chairperson of the council and vice president of Xinhua.

The BRSN, co-initiated by Xinhua and 15 other think tanks, was inaugurated in April 2019.