The numbers associated with Chongqing, one of China’s four directly-controlled municipalities, are staggering. The region is home to 30 million people with an urban population of well over 18 million and has 26 districts and 12 counties. This populous municipality in central China is home to Tradeshift Finance China, Ltd., a joint venture we announced late last year (initially named, Tradeshift Supply Chain Technology, Ltd.).
On April 21st, the company opened the doors to its beautifully designed workspace way up on the top floors of a downtown skyscraper and held an all-day press event and conference. Speakers included Tradeshift’s co-founders, CEO and Co-founder of Tradeshift Finance China, Ltd., Zhang Rui (Alex), the president of Chongqing Entrepreneurs Association, Song Hua, Professor of supply chain management at the School of Business, Renmin University of China, and much more. We also gathered friends and business partners to the grand opening.
The celebration surrounding this joint venture is really about the economic transformation it can help unleash for the Chongqing region and all of China. It will provide the digital tools necessary to improve supply chain management, provide access to capital and boost trade relations with the region’s partners, from Asia to Europe. Through this effort, the joint venture will also support the Chinese government’s ambitious $140B “One Belt, One Road” initiative to boost domestic and international trade. With the recent acceleration of goods being transported on the Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe international railway line, the time could not be better to modernize both physical and digital infrastructure.
The establishment of four bonded port areas is also of great significance. Goods transported from Europe and the Middle East can easily pass through customs clearance and duties are only paid once they leave the bonded area. This presents an enormous opportunity for exporters to the region to build local warehouses and support western China with overnight delivery in B2B2C scenarios.
Tradeshift’s expansion in the area has not gone unnoticed by the politicians. On the day before the event, we were thrilled to meet with Liu Guiping, Vice Mayor of Commerce and Industry of Chongqing. This not only gave us the opportunity to discuss our short- and long-term plans in the region, but also gained us full support of Tradeshift activities in China. The Vice Mayor stated that solutions like trade financing solutions and electronic document exchange over the cloud are part of the region’s modernization goals. The parties also discussed the advantage of establishing an international settlement center in Chongqing to support cross-border trade.
Below are a few nice photos from the Chongqing event:
We’re proud to be gaining traction throughout China in record time. There’s much more news to come. It’s simply amazing to be part of the story about how China is opening up to the world in the name of free trade.
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