The evolution of global value chains (GVCs) has a huge impact on the world economic landscape, and studies on economic and trade dynamics in the Asia-Pacific region, and China in particular, offer a distinctive and pioneering perspective, according to the Party head of the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE).

Huang Baoyin, secretary of the CPC UIBE Committee, made the remarks during a meeting with international representatives at the launch of the Global Value Chain Development Report (2023) in Beijing on Thursday.

The report is a joint effort of the Research Institute for Global Value Chains at UIBE, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Institute of Developing Economies–Japan External Trade Organization (IDE-JETRO) and the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Huang extended his gratitude to the attending representatives for their support and assistance in the preparation of the report. He emphasized that its publication would facilitate a profound integration between academic research and its application, and serve as an important platform to promote international academic exchanges and cooperation at UIBE.

Robert Koopman, former chief economist and director of the Economic Research and Statistics Division at the WTO, hailed the outstanding achievements made by UIBE in the research of GVCs. He expressed his hope for deep collaboration with the university in the future to promote exchanges and development in this regard.

Xing Yuqing, professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) in Japan and overseas academic dean of the Research Institute for Global Value Chains at UIBE, introduced the status quo of GVC research and its megatrends.

Other guests who shared their perspectives at the event included Victor Stolzenburg, research economist at the WTO; Elisabetta Gentile, senior economist at ADB; Simon Lacey, head of Digital Trade and Geopolitics at the World Economic Forum; Xue Jinjun, professor at Nagoya University in Japan; Lu Xiankun, former counselor of China to the WTO and CEO of the Friends of Multilateralism Group (FMG) based in Geneva; Mahinthan J. Mariasingham, project officer at ADB; and Meng Bo, senior fellow at IDE-JETRO.

The Global Value Chain Development Report is the fourth in a biennial series that was first published in 2017. It is the only series of reports in the world that offers a systematic review of the theories, practices and policies on GVCs.