The 2022 International Forum on South-South Cooperation and Trade in Services (the Forum) took place at China National Convention Center in Beijing on 3 September. Under the theme of “Shaping a Global Greener Future Through South-South Technical Cooperation”, the Forum aimed to deepen the understanding of the role and impact of technical cooperation on accelerating the South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTrC), to optimize the patterns and pathways of SSTrC, and to scale up the efforts to shape a global greener future with the principle of inclusivity and leaving no one behind.

The Forum featured an agenda consisting of Opening Remarks, Keynote Speeches, Panel Discussion, and Promotion and Launch Event. This hybrid event was attended by more than 600 participants from 31 countries, including representatives from government agencies, foreign embassies in China, international organizations, research institutes, academia, civil society organizations, business community, and private sectors, etc.

Present at the Opening Remarks session were Mr. QIAN Keming, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Commerce of China; Prof. BAI Chunli, President of the Alliance of International Science Organizations (ANSO); Ms. Xiaojun Grace Wang, Trust Fund Director of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC); Mr. Munir Akram, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations and Chair of the Group 77; Mr. Siddharth Chatterjee, the UN Resident Coordinator in China; and Ms. CHEN Jun, Vice Chair of Beijing Municipal Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. All of them delivered their warm welcome to all the participants and sincere thanks to the organizers and sponsors in the opening remarks. Prof. BAI Chunli particularly emphasized that international science collaboration is the only way to cope with global challenges, such as COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, natural disasters and environment degradation. ANSO has been playing an active role in working with developing countries, and will continue to make effort in addressing the common challenges and promoting the UN SDGs to support the South-South cooperation on science, technology, innovation and capacity building. Mr. ZHANG Yi, Deputy Director-General of China International Center for Economic and Technical Exchanges (CICETE) chaired the Openning session.

In the last session of Promotion and Launch Event, ANSO SDG Report: Poverty Alleviation Supported by Science and Technology, was released by the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research of CAS; Drinking Water Safety and Security Technologies for Developing Countries, released by RCEES of CAS; Green Biomanufacturing & Sustainable Development–TIBCAS’s Vision and Action, released by the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology (TIB) of CAS; and other three achievements were showcased at event as well.

The Forum featuring South-South cooperation was co-organized by UNOSSC, CICETE, ANSO, which was held successfully during the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS). It was supported by a number of organizations, including the United Nations Resident Coordinator’s Office in China (UNRCO), UNDP, UNIDO, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), the College of International Development and Global Agriculture (CIDGA) and the China Institute for South-South Cooperation in Agriculture (CISSCA) of CAU, China South-South Cooperation Network, and Global South-South Development Center Project. Ms. TIAN Wei from China Global Television Network (CGTN) served as moderator of the forum.