Global universities form Belt and Road network

Four British universities have signed on as founding members of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road University Consortium, a new network aimed at supporting joint research and student exchanges within the region covered by the Belt and Road Initiative.

The universities, in Sheffield, Cardiff, Newcastle, and Southampton, join 56 other academic institutions from Europe, Asia and the United States to form the consortium, which is led by Xiamen University in Southeast China's Fujian province.

The network was officially launched this week from Xiamen, a key port city and a maritime component of the Belt and Road Initiative, which is a China-led international effort to develop economies and infrastructure.