3rd China International Supply Chain Expo
[Video message]
Excellencies, distinguished delegates, dear colleagues from China and around the world,
It is a particular honour to address the China International Supply Chain Expo – a platform that embodies China's vital role in keeping the arteries of global trade flowing.
As the world's manufacturing powerhouse and a crucial node in virtually every supply chain, China understands better than most that resilience is not built in isolation but through cooperation.
Picture a container ship – one of thousands – waiting outside a congested port. Inside its steel walls are medical supplies for hospitals, components for factories, food for families.
Each day of delay ripples outward, touching lives in ways we rarely see but always feel.
This is the hidden architecture of our interconnected world – the vast circulatory system of global trade that keeps 8 billion hearts beating, economies growing, technologies advancing.
When it flows smoothly, we scarcely notice.
When it breaks, the world holds its breath.
We have lived through such moments.
The pandemic showed us empty shelves and idle factories.
The Ever Given's grounding in the Suez Canal turned a single ship into a crisis costing global trade between $6 billion and $10 billion per week.
Today's disruptions in the Red Sea and Panama Canal are pushing up global inflation by up to 0.6 percentage points – but for least developed counties (LDCs) and small island developing states, the impact is even higher.
These are not mere disruptions. They are revelations of our profound interdependence.
The stakes could not be clearer.
When supply chains fracture, it is not corporations that suffer most – it is the coffee farmer in Rwanda whose beans cannot reach market, the small manufacturer in Bangladesh whose components arrive too late, the island nation that depends on maritime trade for 90% of its goods.
UNCTAD's research shows that COVID-19's impact on transport costs was five times higher for small island developing states than for developed countries.
This is the cruel arithmetic of vulnerability.
Yet within this challenge lies an opportunity – to build supply chains that bend but do not break, that serve not just efficiency but also resilience, that connect regions amongst themselves but also within them.
Distinguished colleagues,
No nation, no matter how big, can ensure supply chain resilience alone. The container ship I described carries goods from dozens of countries, passes through waters governed by international law, docks at ports that must speak the same digital language.
This is why cooperation is not a luxury but a necessity.
Consider what true cooperation can achieve.
When we share information transparently, we transform uncertainty into predictability.
Our ASYCUDA customs system, deployed in over 100 countries, has reduced customs clearance from 30 steps to 7, increasing customs revenues in Mozambique alone by $50 million per year.
When we digitalize together, we turn borders from barriers into bridges. In Timor-Leste, digital single windows paper use went down by 85%, connecting multiple agencies.
In Vanuatu, they enabled 100% tracking of goods while cutting CO2 emissions.
When we harmonize standards, we create a common language for trade that especially benefits smaller players who cannot afford regulatory complexity.
When we invest in climate-smart infrastructure together, we protect not just ports and roads but the communities and economies that depend on them.
UNCTAD estimates that investing in resilient infrastructure in developing countries could yield net benefits of $4.2 trillion – a $4 return for every dollar invested.
Excellencies,
This is why UNCTAD launched the first UN Global Supply Chain Forum in Barbados last year, bringing together stakeholders who rarely sit at the same table.
China played an active and constructive role in that forum, helping shape the dialogue on resilient and inclusive trade.
This is also why we will convene a high-level session at UNCTAD16 this October – where we look forward to China’s continued strong engagement – not just to discuss problems, but to forge solutions.
Looking ahead, we plan the 2nd (second) UN Global Supply Chain Forum in 2026 (twenty twenty-six), likely hosted by Saudi Arabia. And today, I extend a special invitation to China and CCPIT to consider hosting the 3rd (third) Forum in 2028 (twenty twenty-eight) alongside the China International Supply Chain Expo – creating a rhythm of collaboration that matches the pace of change.
Friends,
China's own development story reminds us that supply chains are not just about moving goods – they are about moving nations forward.
The great ports of history – Venice, Constantinople, Canton – were not just places where goods changed hands.
They were crucibles of exchange, where ideas flowed as freely as merchandise, where strangers became partners, where the world grew smaller and richer through connection.
The stakes today could not be higher.
Together, we can ensure that the arteries of global trade pulse with opportunity for all, that no port is too remote to be connected, no nation too isolated to be included, no community too vulnerable to be protected.
The container ship is waiting. The world is watching. Let us act.
Thank you.
Xièxiè.