The University of Sheffield is a founding member of a consortium of leading global universities launched in Xiamen, China. The Silk Road University Consortium launch event and conference was attended by former University of Sheffield president and vice-chancellor Professor Sir Keith Burnett, who gave the keynote conference address. Members of the network include Europe's leading Sorbonne and Bologna universities and others from Australia, China, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and the USA. The UK will be represented in the network by four leading research-intensive Russell Group universities – Sheffield, Cardiff, Newcastle and Southampton.