The Second XMU Forum on Belt and Road Development opens at Xiamen University in Fujian province on April 28. [Photo/fjsen.com]

Xiamen University (XMU) in Fujian province hosted its second forum on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) from April 28 to 29.

The forum gathered together more than 200 guests from countries along the Belt and Road including Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, as well as a number of other countries including the United States, Britain, Germany and France.

They discussed five major topics – business environment, intellectual property, open education, Africa regional research and Southeast Asia regional research.

According to Zhang Yan, Party secretary of XMU, to better serve the national strategy, XMU established a BRI research institute in 2017 to build a platform integrating academic research, decision-making consultation, talent training, international communication and public opinion guidance. And the University Consortium of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (a part of BRI) was established at XMU on Oct 20, 2018.

Also, the school has been becoming more internationally-focused in recent years. In 2016, Xiamen University Malaysia officially opened, becoming the first university in China to have an overseas branch with an independent campus. 

It is expected that the annual forum will give rise to a number of research achievements which will aid in the construction of BRI.