On September 4, the 2021 International Forum on South-South Cooperation and Trade in Services with the theme of “Digital Economy for South-South Cooperation” was held at China National Convention Center. It was the first of its kind during China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) centering on South-South cooperation.

With a fast-growing population and rapid urbanization process, many African countries now face increasing pressure to provide adequate housing for their citizens. Over the past 10 years since the end of the civil war in Liberia, the country has been vigorously developing its infrastructure, attracting foreign investment, developing production and aiming to achieve long-term peace and stability in order to revitalize the economy and improve livelihoods. As one of the mportant components in infrastructure construction, the development of civil, commercial and industrial buildings and other projects are essential to improve livelihoods and stimulate economic development. However, the lack of local construction materials and a small manufacturing sector, with only one cement factory in Liberia, have impacted infrastructure development.

The world is rapidly urbanizing. In 2008, for the first time in recorded human history more than half the world’s population, 3.3 billion people, lived in urban areas. By 2030, it is estimated that this number will have increased to five billion. Cities play a pivotal role in economic growth and have therefore become a front-line in efforts to address social and economic development challenges. However, the negative impact of urbanization is increasingly being recognized. Cities can exhibit extreme, densely concentrated forms of poverty and inequality and significantly contribute to other global issues such as climate change. Particularly in the developing world, cities often lack much-needed infrastructure, urban planning capacity, while exhibiting weak institutions such as limited data availability, collection and analysis, and limited social protection. These can limit the ability of cities to contribute to the achievement of the sustainable development agenda.

Africa is on track towards rapid development and its cultural industries need to be developed simultaneously. As a key component of the broadcast and television industry, dubbing is important not only to introduce outstanding overseas programmes into Africa to promote knowledge and learning, but also to develop the African television and broadcasting industry as a whole. Currently, dubbing in Africa faces two challenges: the lack of professional voiceover actors and actresses and the lack of professional dubbing technology. These challenges can be observed particularly in the United Republic of Tanzania. Given economic and social evelopment advances, demand is rising for wider television broadcast coverage and richer programme content, especially for earning. The translation of foreign TV programmes is an important source for content providers. Therefore, international support in dubbing, including technologies and skills, are greatly needed.

Wuhan International Culture Exchange Center is a public institution founded as approved by Wuhan Municipal People’s Government and under the charge of the General Office of Wuhan Municipal People’s Government.

In most developing countries, agricultural wastes are left untreated, which may cause environment pollution and animal-human disease transmission. Moreover, farmers have limited access to modern energy such as kerosene, liquefied gas and electricity, which leads to deforestation, water loss and soil erosion. Women and children are overburdened with low-value work, such as the collection of firewood and cow dung for cooking. Moreover, the overuse of chemical fertilizers is a threat to soil, ecosystem and human health. The above issues have impacted the sustainable development of the vulnerable small island countries such as Samoa. Based on the common goal of tackling climate change and the energy shortage, some countries have independently or jointly developed biogas in the pursuit of their environmental, economic, health and social benefits. Since the natural environment and social conditions differ from region to region, and country to country, identifying the most suitable biogas model in a country is still a challenge

Established in 2008, UNIDO Centre for South-South Industrial Cooperation in China (UCSSIC China) is a flagship project jointly established by MOFCOM, UNIDO and CICETE, which aims to create a practical, institutional, and operational platform for South-South and Triangular and Industrial Cooperation (SSTIC) and inclusive and sustainable industrial development (ISID) in partnership with relevant institutions, counterparts and stakeholders both in and outside of China.

The Regional Cooperation Office for City Informatization (RCOCI) was formally established in Shanghai in 2001 according to “the Declaration of City Informatization Forum in Asia-Pacific Region(CIAPR) " and “ the Constitution of Cooperation Commission for City Informatization Forum in Asia-Pacific Region ", which was initiated by the Shanghai Municipal Government and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), in response to the call for Bridging the Digital Divide with the support of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), United Nations Industrial Development Organization(UNIDO) , and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Based on the achievements through the years in the research of the land bridge industry,he New Eurasian Continental Bridge Development Research Center was established in 2009 with the approval of the International Coordinating Mechanism of the New Euro-Asian Continental Bridge Project.

Shanghai Industrial Development Science Technology Innovation Center (hereinafter referred to as "the Center") is an organization established to better regulate the implementation of the UNIDO Global Innovation Network project.