The edited volume entitled “Connecting to Global Markets:Challenges and Opportunities — Case Studies Presented by WTO ChairHolders” was officially launched in February at the 1st WTO’sAnnual Conference of the Chairs Program. The volume included apaper coauthored by Zhang Lei, WTO Chair Holder, Professor of theSchool of WTO Research and Education, SUIBE and Xia Wei, teacher ofthe School of WTO Research and Education. In his opening remarks atthe conference, Mr. Azevêdo, Director General of the WTO especiallymentioned the paper and recognized the positive impact of academicresearch on policy-making in the developing countries.
Entitled “Integrating small and medium-sized enterprises intoglobal trade flows: the case of China”, the paper highlights themajor role SMEs play in a nation’s innovation drive. However,Chinese SMEs hasn’t been well integrated into the global andregional value chain partly due to their lack of innovation.Factors constraining innovation capacity in Chinese SMEs includeshortage of qualified staff, limited financial strength, andweaknesses in the ability to use intellectual property rights, etc.Policy recommendations are made to improve the situation.