In addition, the city has been proactively engaged in the Belt and Road Initiative in terms of overseas industrial park construction, industrial capacity, and medical care by establishing steady partnerships with 18 major regional cities involved in the initiative.

Sitting at the juncture of Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui provinces, Yixing, a county-level city in Wuxi and the main venue of the forum, epitomizes how Wuxi stepped onto the world stage by transforming itself from a small place mainly known for pottery-making in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) into the internationally-recognized "capital of ceramics".