A young entrepreneur exchange meeting for international public procurement organized by the China International Youth Exchange Center is held on Dec 20-21.

The China International Youth Exchange Center (CIYEC) hosted the Annual Conference on International Public Procurement for Young Entrepreneurs from Dec 20 to 21 in Beijing, where participants shared hands-on experience in the sector and conducted in-depth discussions on building a supporting platform for international public procurement.

With the theme of "Young Entrepreneurs and International Public Procurement", the event brought together more than 100 young entrepreneurs from China as well as from Afghanistan, Russia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Japan, India, Uzbekistan, Italy and other countries.

Leaders of the CIYEC and foreign guests attend the annual conference.

Wang Yijun, Party Secretary of CIYEC, addressed the conference. He noted that young entrepreneurs as fresh troops in promoting social and economic development play a crucial part in maintaining the stability of global industry and supply chains and accelerating global economic recovery.

Wang said that at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic is still rampant across the world and risks to the global economy are rising, the center has quickly revised its working draft, taking the promotion of exchanges and cooperation among young entrepreneurs of various countries as a new growth point and setting up an international stage for the cooperation and competition of young entrepreneurs from all over the world.

He said he hoped that through the center's active efforts young Chinese entrepreneurs will be better led in building the new development paradigm of "dual circulation", which takes the domestic market as the mainstay with the domestic and international markets reinforcing each other. 

He added that the center will work with young people around the world to refuel the building of a community with a shared future for mankind through high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative, and strive to configure an open world economy.

Alberto Bastardo, Venezuelan Minister-Counselor to China, speaks at the conference.

Alberto Bastardo, Venezuelan Minister-Counselor to China, said that Venezuela has established a comprehensive strategic partnership with China, and both sides must work more closely together to promote the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative.

He underscored that after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, China immediately provided Venezuela with anti-epidemic supplies and technical support from medical experts and greatly contributed to local pandemic prevention and control.

Alberto Bastardo said that the Venezuelan Embassy in China always attaches great importance to youth exchanges between the two countries, and helps youth organizations to expand cooperation on the basis of existing bonds while continuing to deepen bilateral exchanges and cooperation in such fields as international public procurement.

Prof. Zhao Yong delivers a speech at the conference.

Zhao Yong, Director of the Institute of Public Market and Government Procurement (IPMGP) at the University of International Relations, shed light on the positive role of international public procurement in building the new development paradigm of "dual circulation" in his speech.

He said that the dual-circulation paradigm will expand the scale of the public market, promote the transformation of the market of public relations, enhance the demonstration effect of public markets, and facilitate international integration in the sector.

It will help China cope with the complicated and volatile international situation and boost the high-quality development of China's economy, as well as exert a positive impact on the international public procurement market, he added.

Zhao said he also hoped that young entrepreneurs will keep pace with the times, broaden their horizons and continuously improve their core competence while participating in the new development paradigm and the international public market.

The second International Public Procurement Seminar is held during the two-day conference on international public procurement.

The second International Public Procurement Seminar, a professional training program held by the International Young Entrepreneurs Club, was made part of the conference to further meet the needs of young entrepreneurs.

Invited experts and scholars gave lectures on the general situation of the international public procurement market, the international public market and government procurement, and the international procurement process of international organizations.

They also analyzed China's access to the negotiations of the Government Procurement Agreement (a plurilateral agreement at the World Trade Organization), detailed the present situation and development trend of the international public procurement market, and exchanged views on technical issues in the sector.

The event particularly made room to promote transnational business cooperation projects, and to share project cases by delivering briefings on the investment environment, key areas of investment and trade, and the residence of China-invested enterprises.

International public procurement is an important part of the global market and enjoys unlimited business opportunities. As the finale of the efforts in 2020 to build the international public procurement platform for talented young people, the event won wide praise from young entrepreneurs.

The conference is conducive to mastering participant skills in international public procurement and improving the ability to utilize the markets and resources at home and abroad. It also helps enterprises to develop to world-class levels, and to deepen their roots in international markets.

Above: Wang Yijun (R) presents a souvenir to an entrepreneur representative. Below: Wang (L) listens to the opinions of Alberto Bastardo (C) during the conference.