A forum focusing on summarizing and enhancing the ecological, scientific, and technological cooperation between China and countries along the Silk Road Economic Belt will be held from Sept. 18 to 19 in Urumqi, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, according to one of its organizers, the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography (XIEG) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Themed "Forge Synergies for Development, Jointly Build a Beautiful Silk Road," the International Forum on Sustainable Development of Ecology and Environment in the Silk Road Economic Belt will be jointly hosted by the XIEG, the regional science and technology department, and the regional association for science and technology.

The forum aims to summarize the fruitful achievements of scientific and technological cooperation in the fields of ecology, resources, and environment between China and countries along the Silk Road Economic Belt in the past ten years since the Belt and Road Initiative was proposed, and promote higher quality sci-tech cooperation between them.

It is set to attract about 200 participants, including domestic and foreign experts in the fields of resources and environment, leaders and scholars of scientific research institutions and universities along the Silk Road Economic Belt, and representatives of relevant international organizations and entrepreneurs.

Topics at the forum include biodiversity conservation and sustainable utilization in arid areas, green agriculture and food security, current situation and sustainable utilization of water resources, ecosystem restoration and management, ecological monitoring technology and application, and the current situation and sustainable development of the grassland industry in arid areas.