Panel at Closing Ceremony
25 March 2022, Beijing and New York – The five-day training seminar on “South-South Cooperation in Cross-border E-Commerce for Poverty Eradication and Global Sustainable Development,” hosted by the Ministry of Commerce of China in partnership with UNOSSC, has concluded. The 15 lectures and presentations touched upon various topics, such as the composition of the cross-border e-commerce ecosystem, operation and payment models, and China’s experiences and good practices in leveraging e-commerce as a tool for poverty eradication. Over 1,100 policymakers, practitioners, and entrepreneurs from 90+ developing country governments, IGOs, sectoral associations, academia, and the private sector attended the seminar series.
Mr. Diao Jiandong, President, Shandong Foreign Trade Vocational College
Shandong Foreign Trade Vocational College was the organizer of this training seminar commissioned by the Host Ministry of Commerce. Mr. Diao Jiandong, President of College, moderated the closing ceremony and congratulated the 1000+ participants for their strong commitment and achievement made during the 5-day training. He also introduced representatives from local and sectoral e-commerce associations who have indicated their strong interest in facilitating practical follow-ups to the interests expressed by participants.
Minister Counselor Mr. Shen Xiaokai from the Permanent Mission of China to the United Nations expressed appreciation for all partners in making this training a success. He highlighted the important goal of this training initiative to promote SSC in advancing digital economy as an innovative medium to achieve poverty alleviation and SDGs. The training initiative, guided by South-South cooperation principles, is a concrete response to demands expressed by developing country partners, under the framework of the Global Development Initiative (GDI). He believes that new cross-border e-commerce leaders will emerge from the participants of this workshop.
Mr. Chen Runyun, Vice President, Academy for International Business Officials, Ministry of Commerce of China, shared, “We are willing to continue our in-depth cooperation with UNOSSC and provide training and seminars in more areas and topics, as well as share China’s development experience with other developing countries, along the lines of exchanges and mutually beneficial cooperation towards peace and prosperity in the whole world.”
Ms. Xiaojun Grace Wang, Deputy Director of UNOSSC, highlighted the importance of this cooperation and partnership. Ms. Wang said, “I am particularly pleased to see representatives from local and Sectoral E-commerce associations are joining today to facilitate future practical cooperation. At the United Nations, we recognize that local partners are important players in South-South cooperation, as they are closest to the demand and to the people.” She also welcomed partners and participants to explore collaborations with UNOSSC South-South Cities Project and join the Cities Cluster platform which brings cities, networks of cities, and institutions to interact with UN Specialized agencies and experts to facilitate more horizontal cooperation and SDG investments on the ground.
On behalf of participants, Ambassador Usman Sarki, the former Deputy Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the United Nations, thanked the Chinese Government and UNOSSC for organizing the seminar. He shared, “As African countries embark on an ambitious initiative to unify their economies and streamline the way they do business in the Continent, the adoption of best practices in e-commerce and cross-border trade will become indispensable and indeed very necessary…The consolidation of South-South cooperation and deepening of trade among the nations of the Global South should, therefore, be made an urgent priority in any emerging dispensation including in the area of e-commerce.”
The organizers will summarize the knowledge, frequently asked questions and answers related to South-South cooperation, cross-border e-commerce and Sustainable Development Goals, and develop a knowledge product and training booklet to be disseminated amongst the participants for their continued learning. UNOSSC also invited participants to stay connected in future training opportunities and engaged under the upcoming Global South-South Development Expo 2022.
Lecturers and Guest Speakers and Highlights from the 5-day training seminar
Ms. Guan Wei, Consultant, Department of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Commerce of China: As a new format of foreign trade, cross-border e-commerce is developing fast, with great potential and strong driving effect. Since 2015, the Chinese government has set up 132 comprehensive pilot zones for cross-border e-commerce, covering the whole country. The government encourages various business models and mechanism innovations by promoting digital smart technology, improving regulation and support policies, and standards construction for cross-border e-commerce.
Mr. Hu Yan, CEO of Shanghai DaQian Information Technology, said agricultural production used to be insecure, with good harvest not necessarily equaling to income growth. E-commerce can use orders data to guide production; “order-based agriculture” changes the production relationship and mobile phones become the “new farming tools.
Dr. Shao Ming, Deputy Director of Electronic Business Research Center of Fudan University, highlighted that rural e-commerce shows great promise in poverty alleviation. Rural e-commerce combines agriculture with new e-commerce models, such as live streaming and micro-business, thus breaking through the radius of the supply chain and extending service coverage. It enriches the category of industrial goods and broadens the channels to rural areas, as well as bridges the industrial chain so that high-quality agricultural products can be known and sold at a good price.
Dr. Wang Jian, Professor of the University of International Business and Economics, answered several questions concerning access to the Chinese market. He believes that cross-border e-commerce has the characteristics of fragmentation and high frequency, with demand and orders subsequently fragmented. Therefore, MSMEs that are good at producing fragmented and personalized products can, in turn, can participate in global trade more easily. Local specialties exported are likely to find their own niche market and consumers in the big Chinese market.
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