BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN - The Brunei-China Belt and Road Association has been formally established in the sultanate.

"The establishment of the association will better promote bilateral cooperation in economic, trade, culture, education, sports, health and tourism fields," Jackson Ting, the chief curator of the new-born association, told Xinhua on Friday.

"The association will be dedicated to the introduction of more Chinese investments and the creation of a new platform for mutual benefit," he said.

The Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Initiative, proposed by China in 2013, aims to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes of the Silk Road.

According to Ting, the association is preparing for its first committee members meeting and the inauguration ceremony in the near future.

"The purpose of the association is to provide an unofficial platform of communication, promote closer cooperation between the two countries, create more jobs, and make more contributions to the friendly bilateral relations and to the economic and trade development between the two countries," he added.