November 7th, Shanghai, China — VeChain, the leading enterprise-friendly public blockchain platform, attended The China International Import Expo 2019 (CIIE). Held from November 5 to November 10, 2019,
the CIIE 2019 is a major initiative of the Chinese government to give firm support to trade liberalization and economic globalization and actively open the Chinese market to the world. The event has attracted more than 3,000 companies from over 150 countries and regions, including 250 of the Fortune 500 companies such as Qualcomm, Panasonic, LVMH, Samsung, and Bombardier.
In the first CIIE, VeChain showcased various blockchain solutions to potential enterprise customers and government officials. This year, together with its strategic partner DNV GL, VeChain announced a tripartite collaboration with ASI Group to initiate the first cross-continental logistics and trades solution powered by the VeChainThor public blockchain for food & beverage industry named Foodgates.
It is the first of its kind solution as it is powered by a public blockchain with verified and certified information of the full lifecycle of the products being tracked, such as from cow selection, slaughtering, packing, cross-continental shipping all the way to restaurants for beef products.
The announcement was made on November 7, during the press conference organized by the France China Committee, which belongs to the Mouvement des Entreprises de France (MEDEF), the leading network of entrepreneurs in France with more than 750,000 member firms.
Two days before the press conference, on November 5, 2019, French President Emmanuel Macron attended the opening ceremony of CIIE and discussed various ways to push pragmatic cooperation with his Chinese counterpart,
President Xi Jinping on this 55th anniversary of China-France diplomatic relations. Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping and the Chinese delegation had a tasting session of the Limousin Label Rouge Beef from Limousin Promotion introduced by President Macron.
This meat has been imported thanks to the first cross-continental logistics and trades solution Foodgates, based on VeChainThor public blockchain jointly developed by ASI Group, VeChain and DNV GL. This event is especially significant after President Xi had recently embraced blockchain technology and urged its development on a national level in China. VeChain, being a global blockchain technology platform provider with significant resources in China and Europe will be a direct beneficiary of this bullish shift by the second largest economy in the world.
According to France 24, China is currently the 7th largest trading partner of France, having imported French goods accounted for $24.5 billion in 2018. The bilateral trade volume between China and France surpassed 60 billion U.S. dollars, hitting a record high last year and will continue to increase. The Chinese state-owned media Xinhua also highlighted multiple categories of France’s exports that are seeing fast growth, which includes agricultural products.
ASI Group is specialized in logistics, supply chain, import solutions and global trade, providing value-added applications, built-to-suit solutions and covering 180 countries. Now, ASI Group joins hands with VeChain and DNV GL to combine their current business with blockchain technology and third party assurance to develop the new Foodgates platform. Foodgates aims to provide a world premium, trusted blockchain-powered platform for international buyers and consumers of high-end food & beverage products, safeguarding product quality and safety. On Nov 6, Foodgates — B2B F&B digital platform linking French producers and Chinese professional buyers — entered into a MoU with the Henan Pilot Free Trade Zone to kick off the collaboration to import food products from France to the FTZ.
Mathieu Borgé speaking on the conference
Mathieu Borgé, Co-founder of Foodgates, quoted French president Macron, stating that:“French savors pair well with Chinese taste,’’ adding “We developed a solution which connects the best of French products to Chinese buyers. We know that traceability and authenticity are essential when it comes to Food & Beverage products. Our blockchain-powered platform is aimed at bringing transparency and traceability to the French-Chinese B2B market, while enabling French producers to access the great Chinese market faster and safer.”
Blockchain expertises and development team from VeChain provided comprehensive technical support, from underlying public blockchain protocol, smart contracts, the VeChain ToolChain APIs for docking to the consulting services for business systems. This business-need-oriented yet agile approach gives VeChain huge competitive advantages in the enterprise blockchain space. DNV GL will assure that the scaled trade platform’s rules are defined for all producers and their products, ensuring that transparent and consistent data are logged onto the VeChainThor public blockchain.
“VeChain is committed to adopting blockchain technology to power the real economy, and it has been a privilege to jointly develop this cross-continental logistics and trades solution with ASI Group and DNV GL. The immutability of public blockchain coupled with verifiable information makes this solution really unique and provides an additional level of trust for the consumers. We see the massive potential of this collaboration, as the products are reaching out to an enormous food market in China.” said Kevin Feng, the COO at VeChain.
Powered by VeChain ToolChain, Foodgates empowers a wide variety of products, including renowned labels including The Concours Général Agricole Paris (CGA), Cochon Paysan, Blason Prestige, Qualité Limousine, and Label Rouge. Ranging from Label Rouge Limousin beef and pork to Boisset wine from Burgundy, the solution enables Chinese buyers to purchase excellent French products with total and transparent assurance about the origin, quality, safety and end-to-end traceability. In addition, French producers could have a direct and efficient access to the Chinese market, which creates a trustworthy bridge between both ends.