China's Vice President: Digitalization is revolutionizing world trade!

China's Vice President: Digitalization is revolutionizing world trade!

At the Global Trade and Investment Promotion Summit 2025 in Beijing on Thursday, Chinese Vice President Han Zheng emphasized that digital and intelligent transformation plays a crucial role in transforming global trade and investment. Han urged participants to make joint efforts to promote this development. He explained that new technologies, particularly the digital economy and artificial intelligence, are fundamentally changing the global trade and investment landscape.

In view of the rapidly advancing digitalization, Han sees enormous development opportunities through the use of innovative technologies. He emphasized the need to secure stable and unhindered global industrial and supply chains to promote economic recovery. The theme of this year's summit is to welcome the era of digital and intelligent technologies and strive for common development. The event is organized by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and took place for the first time in 2022.

Challenges in global supply chains

The challenges facing global supply chains cannot be underestimated. Like that ifo Institute reports, recent events such as the corona pandemic, the Suez Canal traffic jam and the Ukraine war have revealed the fragility of classic supply chains. Delays and gaps in information are common problems caused by outdated paperwork.

However, digital supply chains could help. They enable seamless information transfer between the different stages of the supply chain. With the help of artificial intelligence (AI) and big data, problems can be identified more quickly and responded to proactively. For example, AI programs help companies determine which suppliers can currently deliver missing goods and how long it takes until warehouses are refilled.

Advantages of digitalization

Digitalization brings numerous advantages, especially in terms of supply chain transparency. Many companies do not know what the previous stages of the supply chain are like, which often leads to inefficient processes. Digital twins can represent the entire process parallel to the real supply chain and thus provide better insights.

Nevertheless, as the ifo Institute notes, companies also face challenges. Establishing digital supply chains requires high data quality and the correct handling of data protection. Companies must be prepared to provide detailed data, which requires additional investment. In addition, an exchange of information is necessary to take advantage of the advantages of these technologies.

Digitalization can also make an important contribution to the sustainability of supply chains. Through increased transparency, companies can ensure that human rights are respected and waste of resources on transport routes is avoided. This is also in line with the German Supply Chain Act, which has been in force since 2023.

In summary, the Global Trade and Investment Promotion Summit 2025 demonstrates the critical role that digital and intelligent technologies play in transforming the global economy. The challenges that traditional supply chains pose can be significantly reduced through innovative approaches and the use of AI.