On April 29, 2025, the “Seminar on Regional Trade Facilitation Capacity Building for RCEP Senior Officials”, a foreign aid project by the Ministry of Commerce of China, is successfully launched at the China Institute for Reform and Development (CIRD).

The seminar is organized by the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China, organized by the International Cooperation and Exchange Center of the Department of Commerce of Hainan Province, and co-organized by CIRD. The program lasts for 21 days. Wu Biao, Director of the International Cooperation and Exchange Center of the Department of Commerce of Hainan Province, and Long Xiaoling, Vice President of CIRD, delivered speeches at the opening ceremony.

Experts from CIRD, University of International Business and Economics, Hainan Institute for Free Trade Port Studies, and other relevant institutions have been invited to teach the trainees, sharing their research findings and practical experiences in areas such as high-level openness and regional trade facilitation capacity building. The program will also organize field visits to relevant institutions both within and outside the province, further enhancing the trainees’ understanding and mastery of theoretical knowledge, and allowing them to experience China’s reform and development achievements as well as the unique cultural charm of the Hainan Free Trade Port.

The opening ceremony was attended by 20 trainees from the Thai Customs, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce of Laos, the Ministry of Planning and Investment of Laos, the University of Luang Prabang in Laos, and the Lao Chamber of Commerce, as well as two follow-up trainees from Haikou Customs and Haikou High-tech Zone.