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28 November 2014

China gathers GPP knowledge and know-how at EcoProcura

Beijing (China) was host to 60 participants at the ICLEI-organised event EcoProcura China 2014 – International Symposium on Municipal Green Procurement. The two day event saw an exciting exchange of experiences, best practice and information on green public procurement (GPP) between national and local governments from Asia and Europe, including China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Experts, officials and solution providers all attended the event.

“Compared with developed countries in the West, China has started GPP late but our progress has been remarkable. The Chinese government is keen to learn from overseas experience to enrich the content of our GPP policies,” said Ying Wang, Director of the Procurement Management Office of China’s Ministry of Finance. Qi Zhai, Deputy Secretary General of the China Business Council for Sustainable Development, a partner of ICLEI in organising EcoProcura China 2014, said that as the largest consumer in the country, the Chinese government has a clear and crucial role in leading GPP.

This is the first time a Chinese city has hosted an EcoProcura event. Earlier this year ICLEI and the City of Ghent (Belgium) hosted 350 participants at the Europe-wide EcoProcura 2014 conference. “Through our cities network, we hope that by exchanging knowledge and practices, comparing progresses and setting up benchmarks, we can accelerate efforts and ambitions in global sustainability,” said Konrad Otto-Zimmermann, Founding Director of ICLEI and Chair of ICLEI’s Urban Agendas.

For more information, visit the ICLEI East Asia website.