The Silk Road Forum 2015, an annual international meeting to promote the Belt and Road Initiative, will take place in Madrid, Spain, from Oct 28 to 29.

The Development Research Center of the State Council (DRC) is one organizer of the forum. The others are the Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development and the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Spain.

The DRC announced the news at a press conference in Beijing on Oct 15, where DRC's Vice-President Long Guoqiang talked about the background of the Belt and Road Initiative and the research center's findings.

Representatives from 30 countries along the Silk Road route, and from think tanks and commercial enterprises, together with more than 200 leaders of related international organizations and individual scholars will attend the forum, said Cheng Guoqiang, Director-General of the DRC's International Cooperation Department.

Spain, as the host country, has shown great interest in the forum and has confirmed that many of its government officials will attend.

Participants will discuss topics such as infrastructure connectivity, international cooperation in production capacity, Silk Road construction, and the post-2015 sustainable development agenda, said Cheng. Around 30 guests will give speeches on related topics.

Apart from a plenary meeting, the forum will have three roundtable meetings focusing on think tank cooperation, business cooperation, and financial cooperation. Each roundtable meeting will have 20-30 participants for in-depth discussion.

There will be a launching ceremony for the "Silk Road Think Tank Network", which is expected to combine the wisdom of think tanks from around the world regarding the building of the Silk Road and promotion of world peace and development. Thirty three member think tanks and two partner institutions will take part in the ceremony.

Cheng said that the network's member think tanks and network partners will join to drive economic and trade cooperation and cultural inclusiveness, and promote world peace and development with the Silk Road spirit of cooperation, openness, and mutual benefit.

This approach marks a new step towards building a high-end international platform for think tank cooperation. It will gather global wisdom to provide policy consultation services for governments and enterprises, Cheng added.

In addition, global think tanks will be able to increase information exchange through meetings and cooperation. Researcher exchange visits and infrastructure advances will also help think tanks improve capacity in policy research and consultation, Cheng added.

The first annual conference of the Silk Road Forum was held in Istanbul, Turkey in December 2014. More than 200 participants, including 40-plus high-ranking leaders and senior officials from the governments of 13 countries, attended the meeting, exchanging their ideas on the Belt and Road Initiative.

The forum has increased understanding about the Initiative abroad and helped China appreciate the concerns of related countries.

More info about this year's topics:

Infrastructure connectivity: Participants will discuss the prospects and challenges in infrastructure connectivity, infrastructure planning and cooperation among countries along the route, cooperation mechanisms, and multinational cooperation in finance.

Capacity cooperation: Participants will discuss the industrial chain in Asia and Europe, problems and challenges in the field, cooperation among business parks, and green capacity.

Silk Road construction and the post-2015 sustainable development agenda: Participants will discuss integrated development of cultural inclusiveness, social development, and environmental protection, policies concerning  investment, tradeand assistance, and partnership among Silk Road countries.

The DRC announces Beijing will hold the Silk Road Forum 2015, in Madrid, Spain, from Oct 28 to 29.