BEIJING - A music education alliance along the Belt and Road was set up on Friday in Beijing to promote cooperation and exchange.

Presidents of conservatories, musicians and scholars from 16 countries attended the three-day inauguration conference, which began Friday at China's Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing.

The conference will examine exchange mechanisms for conservatories for Belt and Road countries and strengthen the research on and development of music heritage, said Guo Shulan, Communist Party chief of China's Central Conservatory of Music.

Music concerts and music instrument exhibitions will be organized during the event.

Participants come from India, Thailand, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Iran and Turkey, among other countries.

Yu Feng, president of China's Central Conservatory of Music, proposed that a Silk Road international music forum could be held every three years by conservatories in different countries.

Beijing will host the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation on May 14-15.