APEC Cooperation Network on Green Supply Chain was held at the Free Trade Zone in Tianjin on July 29. Experts and scholars on environmentally friendly projects from various countries including Australia, South Korea, India, Japan and Malaysia attended the conference and 17 enterprises signed to cooperate on the construction of the Yujiabao Green Experience Center of Tianjin.

This is the first annual meeting for the cooperation network and attendees discussed a wide range of issues, such as increasing the capacity of the network, a professional website for green supply chain, and the development of green supply chain management tools.

The conference also announced that the online and offline experience will be connected in the near future to help companies and people to further understand the green supply chain system and to promote the development of a green circulation economy.

To help people better understand how the green supply chain system impacts their daily lives in a tangible way, Mu Lingling, director of the Green Supply Chain Center of Tianjin, said exhibitions at the conference focused on basic necessities of lives like clothing, transport, and communication.

Song Xiaozhi, deputy director of the Ministry of Environmental Protection's Department of International Cooperation, said the conference aims to further promote regional and global green development.

The green supply chain can enhance the efficiency of the entire supply chain's environmental governance by decreasing pollution and improving efficiency, acting as a catalyst through which the whole industrial chain can become greener.

Liu Chenyang, director of Nankai University's APEC Research Center, said as the green supply chain matures, a multinational supply chain will gradually be set up, during which, several APEC countries like the US and Malaysia will be invited to act as observers and to set examples to attract more members of the organization to participate in the work.

Tianjin has announced it will build the first APEC green supply chain cooperation network demonstration center -- Yujiabao Green Experience Center -- and construction began in June as part of China's 13th Five Year Plan.

The demonstration center in Tianjin will work together with the related institutions in Australia and Chile to bring in advanced methods and promote Chinese companies taht meet international standards to the world.

Marie Sherylyn Delena Aquia, chairwoman of APEC's committee for trade and investment, said the world is facing big challenges like the rapid population growth, heavy traffic, polluted air, and the greenhouse gas emissions. She hopes the Tianjin demo center could provide a useful example for companies to follow.