TRODITIES expands its cooperation with Chinese institutions
China e-commerce department visits TRODITIES team in Sussex, UK
The China International Electronic Commerce Centre (CIECC) sought to promote further collaborative exchanges with the TRODITIES project by means of paying an official visit to one of the project’s key consortium members, namely the University of Sussex.
On Monday, October 17th 2016 the University of Sussex welcomed a delegation from the China International Electronic Commerce Centre (CIECC), a support body of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce responsible for developing, maintaining and regulating nation-wide electronic commerce infrastructure. Promoting international cooperation for building online networks is also part of CIECC’s mission, and the visit provided an opportunity to explore possible areas of collaboration with the TRODITIES project and the University of Sussex as a whole.
CIECC is one of the institutions in the P.R. of China with which TRODITIES has established official partnerships. Other local partners include the Yiwu Industrial and Commercial College (reference to relevant blog item), as well as scholars at the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE). The partnership with CIECC emerged as a result of the rising significance of e-commerce to the traders that live and work in Yiwu, a commercially vibrant city in China’s Zhejiang province that is the central focus of the TRODITIES project.
Relations with CIECC and other Chinese partners were established through the efforts of Prof Magnus Marsden (University of Sussex) who leads the TRODITIES project, as well as other members of the team which comprises scholars from Cambridge, Royal Holloway, and Copenhagen Universities. Dr Huaichuan Rui of the Royal Holloway College, University of London has been particularly active in this field working with Magnus to establish partnerships with institutions in Yiwu and elsewhere in China.
During their visit to Sussex, in addition to strengthening ties with the TRODITIES project, the CIECC delegation explored the possibility of further collaborations with the University of Sussex on a range of areas including education and training, sharing data, as well as bridging the gap among industry, government and academia to facilitate an environment for online enterprise.
Dr Saheira Sha, a TRODITIES team member, enabled discussions by acting as a language broker. The Sussex welcoming committee also included the university’s Pro Vice Chancellor and scholars from the School of Global Studies, and the Asia Centre, where Magnus and other TRODITIES members are based, as well as representatives from the School of Education and Social Work, the Doctoral School and International Partnerships office.
In addressing the Sussex welcoming committee, the director of CIECC, Mr Zhu Xiaoliang, conveyed his enthusiasm for the TRODITIES project, stressing its significance for understanding Yiwu’s actual trading relations with the world and contributing to the city’s future development, especially in the fields of trade and connectivity.
The visit provided a fantastic opportunity for TRODITIES scholars and Chinese partners to meet in person and have face-to-face interactions. Such engagements are not only of help to team members as they travel to Yiwu to conduct research but also allow the two parties to jointly identify possible areas of cooperation that could have a positive impact on Yiwu’s trade dynamics and social life as well as on research and education for the project’s European partners.