11th China Inbound-Outbound Forum

Mr. Jiang Yaoping, Former Vice Minister of Commerce,

Mr. Piao Xuedong, Director General, Beijing Municipal Commerce Bureau,

Mr. Wang Huiyao, President of the Center for China and Globalization,

Excellencies,

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and gentlemen,

I would like to thank the Center for China and Globalization for the invitation to speak at today’s event. Trade, and more specifically, trade in services, offers immense potential to catalyse economic growth, create new jobs, and promote sustainable development.

The world, and in particular developing countries, are facing a series of interlocking crises, including the lingering socioeconomic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing conflicts and violence, widening inequality, and the triple-planetary crisis of climate change, pollution and biodiversity. 

Addressing these challenges and placing the world back on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will require accelerated actions and increased coordination and cooperation between and among all countries. 

Trade facilitation, and other regulatory measures that can make it easier for countries to engage in international trade, can reduce trade costs, improve market access, and increase economic activity in both source and recipient countries. Trade is an integral part of the 2030 Agenda, with Goal 17 including three targets focused on different aspects of international trade.

As the world’s largest trade partner and increasingly moving into high-tech and services exports, China is a key driver of trade-related growth, and its focus on signing free trade agreements with countries around the world stands to benefit both China and the global economy. 

Beijing, where we are gathered today, is an important player in exploring new ways to facilitate trade, including the National Demonstration Zone for Opening up the Services Sector and the China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone. 

This initiative, and others across China, can help to ensure the development of a business environment that is attractive to the new and emerging industries that will drive economic growth, create jobs, and decouple our economic activity from the use of natural resources.

However, while trade can be a source of economic growth for an economy at the macro level, at the micro level, it can create winners and losers. 

As the UN Secretary-General, Mr. António Guterres, said, “Trade has become a double-edged sword: a source of both prosperity and inequality; interconnection and dependence; economic innovation and environmental degradation.”

Recognizing our current reality does not mean we should be content with the status quo. Policy solutions exist that can address many of the challenges international trade presents. 

Job retraining programs can help workers find new jobs in sectors that have arisen from international trade, while a focus on the green economy and renewable energy can support a cleaner, healthier, more sustainable economy that reduces greenhouse gas emissions and inequality.

Excellencies,

Ladies and gentlemen,

We cannot discuss trade in services without discussing the most prominent trends within this sector: digitalization and technological innovation. From e-commerce to fintech, from telemedicine to remote education, we can see how digital technologies connect people and provide them with access to economic opportunities, educational programs, and healthcare. 

Through online education, a student in Africa can take a class in China, or a student in Viet Nam can take a class in the United Kingdom, all without leaving their home. At the same time, these new technologies and services underline the importance of internet access and the necessity of closing the digital divide.

Currently, 2.9 billion people globally do not have access to the internet. These individuals cannot access many of the new opportunities that are rapidly emerging due to our increased digitalization, and it also means that companies in these sectors have a potential market equal to more than one-third of the global population that they cannot reach. Closing the digital divide will reduce inequality and poverty, increase employment opportunities, and lead to higher levels of well-being, but it can also open up new economic opportunities and markets for companies operating in the digital space.

The upcoming Summit of the Future, which will take place at UN Headquarters in New York later this month, is a key moment where the international community has the opportunity to come together to reconsider the multilateral system and take steps to make it fit for purpose for the challenges we currently face. This includes considering reforms to the international financial architecture to allow it to better respond to the needs of developing countries, as well as a workstream on science, technology, innovation, and digitalization, with a strong focus on artificial intelligence. A Global Digital Compact is currently being negotiated and is expected to be one of the key outcomes of the Summit.

As we look to the future, we must continue to align the service economy with environmental, social and corporate governance considerations, prioritizing environmentally sustainable services that also promote economic growth. International trade, by definition, requires the participation of multiple countries, and we must come together to address our common challenges.

The United Nations in China will continue to be an advocate for international cooperation and sustainable development and will continue to engage with diverse stakeholders to develop a more resilient, equitable, and environmentally sustainable service sector.

I look forward to our continued collaboration and cooperation and to creating a future where trade in services benefits all nations, regardless of their size or stage of development, creating a more prosperous, equitable and sustainable world that leaves no one and no country behind.

Thank you.