NANJING, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 100 young people from more than 30 countries and regions gathered in east China's Jiangsu to discuss ways of deepening cooperation within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

The 3rd Belt and Road International Youth Forum opened in the city of Suzhou, Jiangsu Province on Saturday. This year's theme is "rethinking the blueprint for future international cooperation."

Lan Shaomin, Party chief of Suzhou, said the city is increasingly participating in the BRI and stepping up its comprehensive opening-up.

Suzhou's enterprises had invested in a total of 446 projects in 37 Belt and Road countries as of June, Lan said.

Legal cooperation under the BRI is of great importance in terms of facilitating trade and lowering the risk for companies engaging in transnational investment, said a youth representative from Slovenia.

This year's forum was co-hosted by Zhejiang University, the National Judges College, and the intermediate people's court and judges association of Suzhou.

The two-day event included keynote speeches and panel discussions on topics such as sustainable development, legal cooperation and technological innovation.