Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) members should build an economic think tank alliance to offer long-term intelligence support for regional economic cooperation, a leading expert proposed on Thursday.

Gu Xueming, head of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, Ministry of Commerce, added that SCO economic think tanks could also jointly study the feasibility of building SCO free trade zones.

Gu made the proposal during the 2016 SCO Economic Forum in Beijing, co-organized by the academy and the Secretariat of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Rashid Alimov, secretary-general of SCO, responded positively to Gu's proposal. He said an alliance would be an important intelligence platform on which experts from different countries could discuss how to develop regional economic cooperation. The Secretariat of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization could also take the opportunity to share ideas that could promote and deepen the regional economic development.

The forum has attracted experts from more than 18 countries, who have discussed issues such as economic integration, trade and investment facilitation, and capacity cooperation among SCO members. They have also shared experiences, such as the building of China-Russia free trade zones.