BEIJING - A plenary meeting of the Belt and Road Studies Network (BRSN) was held in Beijing on Tuesday.

The meeting was attended by more than 300 former political leaders, representatives of think tanks and renowned scholars from over 40 countries and regions.

Attendees of the meeting said that think tanks should develop the Belt and Road into a platform that exemplifies the practice of true multilateralism, so as to provide a potent impetus for the progress of humanity. They also vowed to continue pooling wisdom to facilitate win-win Belt and Road cooperation.

"I think international think tanks are very valuable organizations, and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) needs the cooperation and input of international think tanks, which can promote the development of East Asian countries, including my own country," said Chhem Kieth Rethy, Senior Minister, Chairman of Economic, Social and Cultural Council of Cambodia.

Sudheendra Kulkarni, who represents the Forum for a New South Asia, said that one of the BRI achievements that impressed him the most is that the initiative has helped less developed countries and underdeveloped countries to speed up their development.

John Ross, a scholar with Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies of Renmin University of China, said that the BRI is the most important development initiative in the world, whether measured by the number of countries participating, by the proportion of the world's population involved, or from the perspective of the rapidity of growth of the countries involved.

Leading officials of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Xinhua News Agency attended and addressed the meeting.

The BRSN, co-initiated by Xinhua Institute, the think tank of Xinhua News Agency, together with 15 other think tanks, was inaugurated in April 2019.