The 3rd Annual Conference of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Consortium of Universities was held in Islamabad, Pakistan, on November 18 and 19. The Conference was jointly organized by the China Association of Higher Education and the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan. Over 400 representatives from over 40 universities in Pakistan attended the conference to discuss the development of higher education cooperation between the two countries. Sias University was invited to attend the conference and joined the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Consortium of Universities.

The chief guests at the Conference included the Vice President of the China Association of Higher Education, Guan Peijun; Pakistan's Minister for Planning, Development and Reform, Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar; Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan, and Consultant of the CPEC, Yao Jing; member of Pakistan's Higher Education Commission (HEC), and Consultant of the CPEC, Lt. Gen. (R) Muhammad Asghar; the Vice President and Secretary-General of the China Association of Higher Education, Jiang Enlai; the Chairman of Pakistan's Strategic Policy Planning Cell, Dr. Moeed Yousuf; and the Director-General of Pakistan's Higher Education Commission (HEC), Safdar Ali Shah.

The CPEC Consortium of Universities was founded in 2017 by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan and the China Association of Higher Education. Its member universities include 13 universities from China such as Peking University and Fudan University and 45 universities from Pakistan including the National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST). Initially founded with 19 member universities, the number of member universities has increased to 58 over the past two years.

The cooperation between China and Pakistan, the deepening of higher education cooperation and exchanges, the joint research in finance, economics, innovation, entrepreneurship, and interdisciplinary studies provide support for the construction of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), including technology, talent, and experience, which is of importance to the development of friendly relations between China and Pakistan and the construction of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor.

Sias University is the first and only private Chinese university among the CPEC Consortium of Universities.