General

German media: China is promoting "paperless world trade" with the best prerequisites! "If you look at the world map, the New Silk Road is a network of trade routes with extensive branches, connecting China with Asia, Africa, and Europe. For Beijing, this is also a key way to keep China at the top of the world economy. In this process, Beijing not only sets the pace of development, but also focuses on the digital infrastructure of the trade network."

Paperless world trade is a trend.

On January 27th, German news television published an article titled "Paperless World Trade - China is Expanding Its Strength through the 'Digital Silk Road', stating that China's' New Silk Road 'includes not only the layout of land and sea routes, but also the expansion of the' Digital Silk Road '. Through the use of artificial intelligence, Beijing hopes to achieve paperless world trade - and elevate the world economy to a new level.

Within a decade, China's Silk Road Initiative has decisively shaped the global economy: ports, railway lines, and container transshipment points are outstanding achievements. On the other hand, the "Digital Silk Road" is also becoming clear: because digital infrastructure should cover transportation routes and make nodes on existing routes more efficient. This may be groundbreaking in international competition.

China has close trade with countries around the world.

Economist Rolf Langerhammer closely followed the "Digital Silk Road" at the Kiel Institute for World Economics in Germany: "The country hopes to make world trade paperless through this measure," he explained, "For example, the processing of documents and letters of credit can be completed in the blockchain. When products arrive at ports, the blockchain will also trigger financial transactions within the framework of smart contracts."

According to Lange Hamel, if Chinese companies from the IT and financial sectors collaborate to digitize the Silk Road, there may be a new software technology capability that does not currently exist. European observers are skeptical of this development. They worry that China's cooperation with other countries will lead to "Chinese standards" not keeping up with European data protection regulations. Because in addition to the data security issues on Chinese servers, the focus is also on environmental standards, and the cooling of large amounts of data is very energy-intensive and related to high carbon dioxide emissions.

Sino-German trade development map.

"Compliance with standards is the key," said Ludgle Schuknecht, vice president of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, who is more optimistic. "Clear international regulations are beneficial for China and countries that have joined the" New Silk Road "- both in terms of data protection and in terms of network construction along the" New Silk Road ".". He believes that the Chinese people have already had so much experience from the Silk Road Initiative: compared to ten years ago, China now attaches greater importance to foreign partners with weaker financial strength not to become excessively indebted on projects. China is now paying more attention to international standards.

In the process of expanding the "Digital Silk Road", how China can adapt to this development is also Lange Hamel's question. "Because he believes that there are still no international standards for cybersecurity: 'We are entering the unknown,'" he believes, and China may just take advantage of this advanced advantage. ". This country has many top computer experts and enough money. China has the best prerequisites to embark on the "Digital Silk Road" faster than other countries, including Europe.

China's digital construction is ahead of the world.

The German "Frankfurt Report" earlier also titled "Digitalization Helps Maritime Transport Meet Challenges". Pay attention to the development of paperless world trade in China's maritime network. According to the report, the pandemic has brought challenges to maritime transportation that have not been seen in decades. However, Chinese ports and industry participants have accelerated digitization to overcome difficulties and strive to ensure a stable and smooth international supply chain.

A person in charge of the China Port Association said that China has taken measures to accelerate port operations and cargo handling, and to accelerate port customs clearance through the use of paperless computer programs.

Digitalization is becoming increasingly important for trade.

As shipping companies increasingly need to plan ahead and accurately manage the whereabouts of goods in global supply chain bottlenecks, traditional shipping groups and start-ups with sufficient funds are striving to develop digital systems to provide greater transparency to customers. They want to manage the entire supply chain for their customers, providing door-to-door services, covering transportation from factories in the country of origin to distribution centers and stores in the country of destination.

It can be said that the future trade network will be a digital competition, and China, as a major trading country, is accelerating its pace and taking the lead.