On 20 May 2026, ahead of the 32nd APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting, the workshop “Revitalizing WTO’s Functions by Addressing Contemporary Trade Issues: Workshop on Trade and Environment” was successfully held in Suzhou, China.

As an official side event of the APEC Trade Ministers Meeting, the workshop was organized by the Ministry of Commerce of China and executed by the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE). Nearly 200 representatives from APEC economies, international organizations, academia, think tanks, and industry participated in the event.

E Defeng, Deputy Director General, Department of WTO Affairs, Ministry of Commerce, People’s Republic of China, and MEI Xiaying, Vice President and Professor, UIBE, attended the workshop and delivered opening remarks.

In his remarks, E Defeng noted that trade and environment have become key issues in global economic governance and are receiving high-level attention from the Chinese government. Against the backdrop of the global green transition and rising unilateralism and protectionism, he emphasized the importance of strengthening policy coordination, upholding the multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core, and promoting the free flow of green technologies, products, and services.

MEI Xiaying welcomed participants from home and abroad on behalf of UIBE and highlighted the university’s research strengths and achievements in international economic governance, WTO rules, foreign-related rule of law, green trade, and low-carbon development. He reaffirmed UIBE’s commitment to leveraging its academic strengths, talent pool, and research platforms to support China’s high-standard opening-up and research on international economic and trade rules.

During the thematic discussions, senior officials from APEC economies, international think tank experts, scholars, and industry representatives engaged in substantive discussions on best practices in promoting green transformation and development through trade, current challenges, and ways to better support WTO-related work through APEC cooperation.

The first session, titled “Green Transformation of Global Trade: Exploring Pathways to Sustainable Development amid Multiple Challenges,” featured meaningful discussions on sustainable development and the green transformation of global trade. Speakers included ZHAO Yongqiang, Director of the Renewable Energy Center, Energy Research Institute, National Development and Reform Commission; DONG Lijuan, General Manager of Global Strategic Marketing and Brand, Arctech Solar; and ZHENG Lingli, Professor, School of Law, Nanjing Normal University. Discussions focused on renewable energy development, green and low-carbon industrial practices, trade in green products, and standards coordination. Participants shared experiences regarding technological innovation, industrial chain cooperation, and rule coordination in advancing the green transition.

The second session, “WTO’s Mandate and Reality: From Deadlock to Exploration,” was moderated by JI Wenhua, Professor, School of Law, UIBE. Speakers included Christophe Bellmann, Head of Policy Analysis and Strategy, Forum on Trade, Environment and the SDGs (TESS); JIANG Sujin, Director, Department of WTO Affairs, Ministry of Commerce, People’s Republic of China; QI Jianchuan, Researcher, Institute for Carbon Neutrality, Tsinghua University and Deputy Secretary-General, Carbon Footprint Alliance; and Mehran Idris Khan, Associate Professor, School of Law, UIBE. Discussions covered the WTO trade and sustainable development agenda, trade-related climate measures, carbon footprint accounting and standards mutual recognition, and lessons from regional cooperation for WTO reform. Participants emphasized the importance of enhancing rule transparency, standards interoperability, and inclusiveness in the green transition, while preventing green policies from evolving into new trade barriers.

The third session, “Regional Practices as Pioneers — Innovation and Experimentation in APEC,” was moderated by WU Hao, Deputy Director, Department of WTO Affairs, Ministry of Commerce, People’s Republic of China. Speakers included Andrew Jenks, APEC Senior Official of New Zealand; Jeremy Green, APEC Senior Official of Australia; and Cordelia Lam, APEC Alternate Senior Official of Hong Kong, China. Discussions focused on the APEC List of Environmental Goods and Services, green finance, and coordination of low-carbon trade policies. Participants noted that APEC, as a platform for policy experimentation and idea incubation, can contribute valuable regional experience to WTO discussions and the improvement of multilateral trade rules through voluntary, non-binding, and pragmatic cooperation.

In his closing remarks, E Defeng stated that the workshop had facilitated comprehensive and substantive exchanges on issues including global green trade transformation, the WTO’s mandate and reality, and APEC innovation practices. He noted that the discussions further strengthened consensus on enhancing multilateral coordination, promoting green trade, and safeguarding the multilateral trading system. He also stressed the need to strengthen synergies between the WTO and APEC, promote coordination of green trade rules, prevent rule fragmentation and new trade barriers, and support developing members in adapting to the green transition, thereby contributing greater stability and certainty to Asia-Pacific cooperation and global economic development.

The workshop was jointly executed by the School of Law, the Institute for Foreign-Related Law Studies, and the Academy of China Open Economy Studies of UIBE. Professor JI Wenhua and his academic team were deeply involved in the event’s preparation and academic coordination, fully demonstrating UIBE’s academic strengths and influence in the fields of foreign-related rule of law, international economic law, and global economic governance. Moving forward, UIBE will continue to deepen research on WTO reform, trade and environment rule coordination, and green trade governance, contributing academic expertise to China’s high-standard opening-up and the development of a foreign-related rule of law system.