On 13-14 November, the Youth Trade Summit on Gender was held by the World Trade Organization (WTO) at WTO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, to provide opportunities for young professionals to engage in discussions on trade and gender issues. DU Yingxin, Associate Professor at WTO Chair at University of International Business and Economics, was invited to participate in the summit. The Summit brought together 59 young participants aged 20 to 35 from various regions of the world and with different professional backgrounds, of which 27% were from Europe, 24% from Africa, 22% from Latin America, 17% from Asia and 10% from North America. Supporting women's participation in international trade, making trade more inclusive, and promoting women's economic empowerment through trade is one of the focuses of the WTO's ongoing work. The Summit aims to foster collaboration and networking among different generations of trade and gender stakeholders, and to promote further research and related work by young professionals on this topic in the future.

The two-day conference included a wide range of lectures and seminars, including the role of youth in gender equitable and inclusive trade, gender-based data for research, a gender perspective on e-commerce, linking gender and international investment policies, gender aspects of trade finance, gender and non-tariff measures and trade in services, which greatly enhanced the knowledge and deepened the understanding of the young professionals on trade and gender issues. The summit also included in-person discussions between the young professionals and WTO ambassadors, as well as working group session tutored by senior experts in this field, providing young scholars with more opportunities of collaborating and networking.

Anoush der Boghossian, Head of the WTO Trade and Gender Unit, awards certificate to the group members (photo by ©WTO)

In the working group session, DU Yingxin cooperated with the other group members from different countries to identify a real-world problem related to trade and gender. The group's presentation stood out and became the winner of the 6 working groups. DU Yingxin, together with the other group members proposes recommendations for the WTO's future work on gender and trade, and took pledges to integrate trade and gender issues in their future work. Based on her professional background and knowledge, Professor Du Yingxin actively participated in the discussions and had in-depth communication with other Summit delegates.

Associate Prof. DU Yingxin with senior expert Mia Mikic, Tutor of the working group