Maintaining the stability of global supply chains is essential for addressing challenges confronting businesses worldwide, such as escalating costs, geopolitical tensions and rising protectionism, which could further fuel global inflation, government officials and business leaders said. Delivering a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the second China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE) in Beijing, Vice President Han Zheng said that China is willing to work with all countries to promote the establishment of an open world economic system and ensure the stability and smooth operation of global industrial and supply chains. This year’s Expo has attracted over 620 Chinese and foreign companies, marking a 20% increase in the number of exhibitors compared with the first edition, according to the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), the organizer of the event. The proportion of overseas exhibitors has climbed from 26% to 32%, it said.
Over 1,300 participants from over 100 countries and regions as well as international organizations attended the opening ceremony of the second CISCE in Beijing on November 26. At the opening ceremony, an initiative for stable and smooth global industrial and supply chains was unveiled. Chinese Premier Li Qiang, while attending a symposium with representatives of enterprises and organizations participating in the second CISCE, said China will continue to take concrete action to ensure stable and unimpeded global industrial and supply chains. Government officials and representatives from the global business community and institutions expressed their support for globalization, and voiced their concerns about decoupling and attempts to undermine global industrial and supply chain cooperation.
Observers noted that the global economic stage should be one where partners seek common growth and a shared future by joining hands, rather than by engaging in arm wrestling. They urged governments around the world to work toward ensuring the smooth flow of the global industrial and supply chain.
Chinese analysts said that in face of the sluggish global economic recovery, collaboration and seeking win-win benefits is the only path to ensure the prosperity of global trade, which is the foundation of well-being for the peoples of the world. Anti-globalization and the fragmentation of the global supply chain will only add costs and lead to losses, they noted.
“In Europe, a great meeting of the Eastern and Western economies has been created in Hungary. If you want to see big German factories and big Chinese factories built on neighboring plots next door to each other, please come to Hungary. Our strategy of economic neutrality will make 2025 a fantastic year for the Hungarian economy through the enhanced cooperation between China and Hungary,” Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto said in his speech at the opening ceremony of the second CISCE, adding that Hungary is honored to be the country of honor at the CISCE.
Global business leaders and top executives emphasized the benefit of connectivity, as well as the cost of fragmentation. “A single tree does not make a forest, and a single string does not make music. We can achieve more when we work together, and the bigger the challenge, the more essential cooperation becomes,” Dominic Barton, Chair of Rio Tinto, said during his speech at the opening ceremony. “It is important that we speak up and come out of the shadows to defend and promote supply chain coordination and free trade. It is essential for all of our prosperity,” Barton said. Compared with the first edition of the Expo held in 2023, this year's event has seen a growing attendance from global and domestic companies, many of them giants in their sector.
Wood Mackenzie, a UK-based energy consultancy, estimated earlier this year that if Chinese clean energy technologies and products were excluded, the global energy transition would cost 20% more by 2050, requiring an additional USD6 trillion. Therefore, according to John Denton, Secretary General of the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris, it is essential for the global community to collaborate in ensuring a well-functioning multilateral trading system. Sean Stein, incoming President of the U.S.-China Business Council, said that over the past few decades, global supply chains have not only been the cornerstone of economic development, but also a key stabilizer for world peace and international cooperation. Such interconnectedness has enabled the creation of resilient economies, supported innovation, and generated employment opportunities, Stein said, adding that collaboration and development have benefited both China and the United States, as well as the whole world.
This overview is based on reports by the Global Times and the China Daily.
