Xi'an Jiaotong University initiated the establishment of the Silk Road University Alliance in 2015. The Silk Road Law School Alliance also came into being.
Since its establishment in 2015, the alliance has been attended by more than 37 universities from 150 countries and regions, including 18 universities from Central Asia. Xi'an is still the hub of people-to-people exchanges between China and Central Asia, and countless international students have also gone to study in Shaxi. In their view, these "bridges" play a vital role in cultural exchanges and bonding between the two places.