ASTRON Network Earns “Outstanding” Recognition at the 2025 World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit
On 6 November, ASTRON Network’s case, ‘Building Global Cross-Border Digital Trust Bridges, Co-Creating an Open and Trusted Digital Ecosystem’ was honoured as one of 12 Outstanding Cases at the 2025 World Internet Conference (WIC) Wuzhen Summit, out of 300 submissions received worldwide.
Submitted by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), the project was awarded in the Network Infrastructure Construction category as a standout case of innovation and impact in the digital trade space.
Li Haihua, the Deputy Head of the Informatisation and Institute for Industrial Internet & Internet of Things (IIIIoT) at the CAICT noted TradeTrust’s involvement in the project, stating, “The successful collaboration between the ASTRON Network and TradeTrust is a prime example of building an open and trusted digital ecosystem. By enabling the digital transmission and mutual recognition of trade documents through blockchain technology, the partnership has significantly enhanced the efficiency and security of cross-border trade, while providing a replicable pathway for developing an open and trusted digital environment.”
As a collaborator in the project, the recognition represents another important milestone for TradeTrust, highlighting the global significance of using Digital Documents against Payment (D/P) in enhancing international trade efficiency and security.
TradeTrust and ASTRON: Collaborating to Transform Cross-Border Trade
ASTRON Network, launched by CAICT in 2021, leverages blockchain technology to build cross-border digital trust infrastructure. TradeTrust relies on public blockchain technology to electronically endorse and transfer the title ownership of a document among stakeholders. Public blockchains allow for an open and interoperable system, enabling all international parties to participate. TradeTrust's (D/P) trade financing trials between China and Singapore catalysed ASTRON's advancement to a crypto-less EVM compatible Layer-2 variant, designed to comply with Chinese regulatory constraints. This made ASTRON Network the only China-initiated public blockchain infrastructure in TradeTrust's framework, which also includes Ethereum, Polygon, XDC, and STABILITY (crypto-less).
Presenting at the “Release and Presentation of Outstanding Cases of Jointly Building a Community with a Shared Future in Cyberspace” ceremony at the 2025 WIC Wuzhen Summit, ASTRON Network highlighted TradeTrust’s role in the Digital D/P trial, which demonstrated how TradeTrust’s interoperability and secure framework helped ASTRON Network advance cross-border digital trade.
Real-world Impacts of Interoperable and Trusted Cross-border Transactions
The successful trial by TradeTrust, supported by ASTRON Network, and involving COFCO Industrial Food, Singapore’s Yit Hong Pte Ltd, major banks and Pacific International Lines (PIL) as the carrier, demonstrated the real-world benefits of using interoperable and trusted electronic Bills of Lading (eBL) to enhance the efficiency and security of cross-border trade.
Shorter processing times
By replacing traditional cross-border paper document mailing with digital transmission, the time taken from shipment to payment settlement was significantly reduced from 20 days to five days. Yit Hong Pte Ltd cut documentation handling time by 60%, while PIL reduced the processing time for Bills of Lading from 5 to 10 days to only 8 minutes per transaction.
Participating Chinese banks, BOC and ICBC, noted that replacing traditional cross-border paper document mailing with digital transmission also reduced document circulation costs by 30% while effectively mitigating risks like document fraud or loss.
Lower risk of fraud and tampering
This trial was supported by ASTRON’s crypto-less public blockchain solutions, ensuring regulatory compliance with no business-on-chain data or cryptocurrency.
Participating bank UOB highlighted that the digital issuance, transfer and endorsement of a TradeTrust-enabled eBL allowed banks to efficiently establish the authenticity of the eBL without a separate validation process. The process also mitigated risks of trade finance fraud and strengthened confidence in cross-border trade finance.
Seamless transactions enabled through interoperability
A key feature of the TradeTrust-enabled eBLs is the seamless transfer across TradeTrust-ready platforms, giving trading partners the flexibility to use their preferred systems, such as AEOTrade and SGTraDex. This decentralised approach means parties no longer need to operate on a common digital platform.
Another participating bank, DBS, noted that the transaction reinforced the importance of interoperability and common standards in accelerating trade digitalisation and promoting a more efficient global trade ecosystem, while also addressing the scalability challenges of closed-loop platforms.
What this means for the future of trade
The successful trial showcases how secure and efficient document exchange across TradeTrust-enabled trade platforms can streamline international trade and finance processes.
ASTRON Network’s recognition as an Outstanding Case at the 2025 WIC Wuzhen Summit underscores the significance of our work and the global importance of digital interoperability in trade finance and logistics, with TradeTrust being a key enabler of this transformation.
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Explore the award ceremony here (Chinese).