联合国诞生贸易新公约

Core Viewpoint - The adoption of the United Nations Convention on Transferable Goods Documents marks a significant shift towards the recognition of property rights across all modes of transport, driven by China's initiative, which enhances legal certainty and creates new opportunities for international trade, especially benefiting inland developing countries and small to medium-sized enterprises [3][4][5]. Legal Significance - The Convention represents a historic innovation by providing legal protection for transferable documents across various transport modes, establishing a crucial milestone in international law [4]. - It addresses the long-standing "system time lag" in international trade, where only maritime documents had property rights attributes, thus enabling a unified property document system for all transport modes [4][5]. Economic Opportunities - The Convention creates new development opportunities for international trade, particularly benefiting inland developing countries and small to medium-sized enterprises by eliminating legal barriers in land transport [5]. - It enhances transaction flexibility for exporters, allowing them to transfer documents and sell goods during transit, which was previously challenging under traditional land transport systems [5]. Financial Implications - The Convention provides important legal certainty for banks, enabling them to accept land transport documents as collateral, thereby mitigating trade financing risks [5][6]. - It helps banks verify the authenticity of trade backgrounds, addressing issues of false trade and document forgery, which is crucial for compliance with regulatory requirements [5][6]. Development Process - The proposal for the Convention was initiated by China in July 2019 to address the lack of international rules regarding property rights for cross-border railway documents, reflecting the practical financial needs of Chinese enterprises [6][7]. - The Convention's drafting process involved significant contributions from the Chinese government, which played a leading role in negotiations, ensuring that the final text met industry demands and gained broad acceptance [7]. Implementation and Pilot Projects - Although the Convention has been approved by the UN, it requires ratification by at least ten countries to come into effect, with ongoing efforts to promote its signing and approval [8][9]. - A pilot project to test the Convention's feasibility will be launched in July 2024, with China actively seeking to be the first to implement it, having already completed several transactions under the new framework [9].