Anna Jobin Bright, Secretary General of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, highly praised China's leading role in promoting the implementation of the United Nations Convention on Negotiable Documents (NCD Convention) during an interview, and pointed out that Chongqing's practical exploration provided key support for the birth of this international rule.

Chongqing practice gives birth to the embryonic form of international rules

As the starting point of the China Europe freight train and the source of the land sea new channel, Chongqing established the world's first international letter of credit for railway bills of lading as early as 2017, and concluded the country's first railway bill of lading property dispute case in 2020. These explorations, originating from the forefront of the market and judicial practice, accurately identified the long-standing pain points of financing for goods in transit in international trade, laying a solid foundation for the Chinese government to subsequently submit legislative proposals to the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law. Anna Jobin Brett explicitly stated that the concept of the convention sprouted in Chongqing, where needs were identified, and Chongqing was therefore seen as the starting point of this rule change.

Cracking the problem of document fragmentation in multimodal transport

Anna Jobin Brett pointed out that the core breakthrough of the NCD Convention lies in solving the historical problem of fragmented rules between different modes of transportation. Under the traditional mode, shipping, railways, and highways each have documents, resulting in cumbersome procedures and high financing costs during the transfer of goods. The new convention introduces a document coverage model that unifies the electronic, digital, and transferable nature of transportation documents for sea, rail, and road transport. This not only significantly improves logistics efficiency, but also thoroughly opens up financing channels for goods in transit, which is seen as a disruptive innovation that rewrites the rules of the global trade game.

China proposes to consolidate global consensus

From China's first legislative proposal in 2019 to the upcoming opening for signature of the convention in Accra, Ghana in October 2026, China has provided highly convincing evidence for the convention with its vast economic scale and rich logistics scene. Anna Jobin Brett emphasized that the Chinese proposal has resonated widely among member states and effectively promoted the formation of international rules. The landing of this important promotional event in Chongqing is a tribute to the city's nurturing of rules and wisdom, and also symbolizes the leap from local practice to global governance.Editor/Gao Xue