An alliance for innovation and cooperation between countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative is launched in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, on Nov 9. [Photo/zj.zjol.com]

The "Belt and Road" International Seminar on Capacity Cooperation and Green Development was held in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, on Nov 9.

An alliance for the innovation and cooperation between countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was launched at the opening ceremony.

The alliance was established by Zhejiang University and nine other schools of higher education in BRI countries, such as Corvinus University of Budapest in Hungary, Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, Kyoto University in Japan, and University of Trento in Italy.

"It's been six years since the initiative was proposed. The alliance will further explore economic development under the framework of the initiative," said Huang Xianhai from the department of economics at Zhejiang University.

According to Wang Zhikai, deputy director of the university's private economy research center, the alliance will strengthen communication between member universities and work to solve potential social and cultural conflicts emerging in international investment activities. It aims also to help more teach countries about the initiative and help them become involved. It will also offer help to companies in said countries looking to engage in international cooperation.

Specifically, the alliance will provide advice regarding economic development to BRI countries, conduct research on innovative technology and cooperation, and collect existing successful practices in economic cooperation to use as future reference.

"We talked with many Zhejiang entrepreneurs and found that institutional differences and cultural diversity have created many obstacles to their development overseas. The alliance will study these problems and try to figure out solutions to help companies in BRI countries run more efficiently," said Huang.