Participants attend a seminar co-hosted by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) and the International Trade Centre (ITC) in Geneva, Switzerland, Sept. 10, 2024. [Photo provided to China.org.cn]

The China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) and the International Trade Centre (ITC) co-hosted a seminar in Geneva, Switzerland, on Sept. 10, focusing on "Resilient and Greener Supply Chains for Cross-Border E-commerce."

The event, organized during the World Trade Organization (WTO) Public Forum 2024, was held at the invitation of WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. 

Ren Hongbin, chairman of CCPIT, attended and addressed the seminar. In his remarks, he highlighted the coexistence of opportunities and challenges in today's globalized economy, emphasizing the need to embrace openness and inclusiveness while upholding true multilateralism. 

Ren noted that the recently concluded third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has drawn up systematic plans for further deepening reforms comprehensively to advance Chinese modernization, and so China’s rapid development is poised to provide new opportunities and inject fresh momentum into global trade and investment. 

He also stressed that building greener and more resilient supply chains is crucial to addressing global challenges. CCPIT, which is committed to establishing platforms for international supply chains cooperation, will build on the success of last year’s inaugural China International Supply Chain Expo to ensure the success of the upcoming second edition.

Dorothy Tembo, deputy executive director of ITC, underscored ITC's commitment to collaborating with partners to offer technical assistance to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), especially those in developing countries, to tap into the potential of cross-border e-commerce. The goal is to build greener supply chains and reduce the carbon footprint of e-commerce, thereby contributing more to sustainable development.

Representatives of international organizations, including Torbjorn Fredriksson, head of the E-commerce and Digital Economy Branch of the Division on Technology and Logistics at the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), participated in the seminar. Business representatives included Zhao Haiying, deputy general manager of China Investment Corporation; Xiao Ming, senior vice president of ZTE; Yu Bo, deputy secretary of China Datang Corporation's leading Party members group; Zhao Dianlong, vice president of China Railway Construction Corporation; Wang Jun, chief scientist of CRRC Group; Diane Wang, CEO of DHgate.com; Jin Lei, CEO of Beijing Balance Medical Technology Co. Ltd.; and Ma Hongyan, vice president of international marketing at Skywell. In total, over 100 representatives from international organizations, business associations, think tanks and enterprises attended the seminar. 

The WTO Public Forum, the WTO's flagship annual event, is being held this year from Sept. 10-13 in Geneva, and has attracted over 4,000 participants from around the world.