Silk Road Club Holds Forum to Mark the 13th Anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative

Milan, September 7, 2026 (Local Time) — The Silk Road Club held a forum to mark the 13th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative. Chen Entian, Chairman of the Silk Road Club Alliance and chief initiator of International Day of the Belt and Road, attended the forum via video link.

In his address, Chen Entian recalled that on September 7, 2013, the Chinese leader put forward the initiative of the Silk Road Economic Belt at Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan. Later, the proposal of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road was delivered at the Parliament of Indonesia. Collectively known as the Belt and Road Initiative, it carries forward the spirit of the ancient Silk Road spanning more than two thousand years, and 13 years have passed since its launch.

Chen Entian stated that to respond to the Belt and Road Initiative, together with Ji Chaozhu, former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, and a group of international civilian scholars, he founded the World Peace Ribbon Organization, and designated December 16 each year as International Day of the Belt and Road, to promote Silk Road ideas and civilizational exchanges through civil efforts.