epresentatives of more than 50 top research institutions across China attended the April 8 launch ceremony in Beijing of China’s first “One Belt and One Road” think-tank alliance council, with the Middle East Studies Institute at Shanghai International Studies University (SISU) being one of four think tanks representing Shanghai.

The council aims to develop cooperative research for policy advice for governments of the countries along the “Silk Road Economic Belt” and the “21^st Century Maritime Silk Road,” which spans Asia, Africa and Europe.

Sun Degang, deputy director of SISU’s Middle East Studies Institute, said during the ceremony that the alliance council will foster cooperation in economy and education among institute members, enhancing its capacity for research and consultation on national strategic planning.

Guo Yazhou, deputy minister of the International Liaison Department of the Communist Party of China, urged ceremony attendees to advance information sharing, international communications and policy-oriented research. He added that the council’s secretariat will help institute members to travel to foreign countries for research.

International cooperation in building up a network of “One Belt and One Road” think tanks was the discussion topic related to an international seminar, held during December 2014 in Istanbul, Turkey. Many international think tanks started joining the “One Belt and One Road” network early this year.

Zhang Laiming, vice director of the Development Research Centre of the State Council, stressed that the membership of alliance council is also available to overseas institutes.

Under leadership of the International Liaison Department of the Communist Party of China, the council was jointly initiated by the Development Research Centre of the State Council, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Fudan University.