USCIB members and staff were in China last month in a visit that focused on green growth topics and engaged with USCIB members in-country.
A highlight of the visit, which was led by USCIB President and CEO Peter M. Robinson and USCIB China Committee Co-Chair Tad Ferris (Holland and Knight), was a session of USCIB’s Green Economies Dialogue initiative that included Chinese business and government representatives.
Also involved in the mission were Jianmei Feng, the China-based co-chair of the China Committee, Justine Badimon, USCIB’s manager of China and APEC affairs, and Anna Zhang, USCIB’s director of Carnet claims administration.
USCIB launched the Green Economies Dialogue initiative last year to provide a forum for discussion of green growth topics among multiple stakeholders in the lead-up to the UN’s Rio+20 conference and beyond. In addition to Beijing, dialogue sessions have been held in Washington and Paris, and two additional sessions are planned for April in Tokyo and Brasilia.
The Beijing Dialogue, jointly organized with USCIB’s China Committee and with strong input from the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD, assessed conditions to promote a greener economy in China, key opportunities for industry to enhance China’s efforts, and issues related to competitiveness in global markets. The meeting also served as a platform to discuss areas for improvement and cooperation within the private sector, and private/public partnerships.
The event was highlighted by a keynote address from Zhou Hongchun, one of the Chinese government’s leading advisors and experts on green industry development policy, including structural adjustment, “circular economy” promotion, and industrial energy efficiency. The event also featured a panel of industry experts and representatives, including Joerg Wuttke (BASF), chair of BIAC’s China Committee.
USCIB representatives also took advantage of the visit to meet with representatives of the China Chamber of International Commerce (CCOIC), our Chinese sister organization in the International Chamber of Commerce and the ATA Carnet system, which enables duty-free, tax-free temporary exports to some 80 countries and customs territories around the world.
For more information about the upcoming Green Economies Dialogue sessions, please contact Kira Yevtukhova (kyevtukhova@uscib.org).
Staff contact: Justine Badimon and Norine Kennedy
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