Attendees discuss at the BRLC E-Commerce Training Workshop, which was organized by Alibaba Business School with the full-dimensional e-commerce curriculum provided by Taobao University, Alibaba Group in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, from Oct 29 to 31. [Photo provided to ehangzhou.gov.cn]

The Belt and Road Local Cooperation Committee (BRLC) E-Commerce Training Workshop was organized by Alibaba Business School with the full-dimensional e-commerce curriculum provided by Taobao University, Alibaba Group in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, from Oct 29 to 31.

The opening ceremony of the workshop, sponsored by the secretariats of BRLC and the Asian and Pacific Council of the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG ASPAC), was attended by Chen Weiqiang, vice-mayor of Hangzhou; Wang Jin, director of the Hangzhou Foreign Affairs Office; Wen Jia, president of Alibaba's public affairs department, and Huang Lei, senior director of Alibaba.

The workshop was designed for representatives from BRLC member cities or cities intending to join BRLC. The representatives included officials responsible for e-commerce development and businessmen from e-commerce firms.

Forty delegates from Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Finland and Nepal, as well as several Chinese cities including Zhengzhou, Xi'an, and Yiwu, participated in the workshop. 

The trainees spent three days studying and researching on-site. A number of specialists from Hangzhou government and Alibaba offered a host of courses covering topics such as new retail, intelligent logistics, institutional innovation and methods of developing e-business. 

Trainees were also offered opportunities to visit Alibaba, Hangzhou Dream Town, Freshippo, and among others, for research purposes. 

BRLC was founded by the government of Hangzhou and the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries in May 2017 under the framework of UCLG. The secretariat of the committee is permanently located in Hangzhou. 

To date, 54 international cities and organizations and 17 Chinese cities have become members of the committee.

BRLC has hosted more than 10 events including forums and conferences to facilitate exchange and cooperation between cities involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.

Participants in the training workshop pose for photo. [Photo provided to ehangzhou.gov.cn]