The Belt and Road Industry Alliance commenced operations in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region’s capital of Urumqi on Sept 17.

The alliance was initiated by the city of Tianjin’s 15 chambers of commerce in China, including those in the provinces of Shaanxi, Sichuan and Yunnan and the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Lin Qing, the alliance’s chief executive director, said that the alliance was founded to encourage more enterprises to participate in the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative. The Belt and Road Initiative comprises of the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, which were proposed by President Xi Jinping during his visits to Kazakhstan and Indonesia in 2013.

Approximately 1,000 enterprises engaging in fields of resources development, real estate, environmental protection and commerce were willing to join the alliance.

The alliance plans to collectively build an industrial development center in Xinjiang, a resource center in Beijing and a finance center in Shanghai, according to Guo Dongsheng, director of the region’s Economy Strategy Development Center. Sub-alliances for finance capital, business logistics, education and culture, agricultural industries and general aviation were also been proposed.