China's General Administration of Customs signed six bilateral agreements on the trade of agricultural and food products, and customs cooperation with its counterparts from Chile and other APEC economies during the 2026 APEC Customs Business Dialogue held earlier this week in Dalian, northeast China's Liaoning Province.
The deals seek to build intelligent customs partnerships by deepening customs inspection cooperation, streamlining registration for trader of agricultural and food products such as meat-containing instant noodles and fresh fruits, and advancing cooperation on electronic certificates for aquatic products.
The two-day event, which concluded on Friday, brought together more than 230 representatives from customs authorities, government agencies, international organizations, businesses and academia across APEC economies to discuss issues including supply chain security, artificial intelligence applications and customs supervision of cross-border e-commerce.
It was held as part of the third APEC Senior Officials' Meeting, which runs from Aug 17 to 28 in Dalian to provide a platform for policy discussions among senior officials and delegates from the 21 member economies, as well as technical meetings and capacity-building initiatives that help advance regional economic cooperation.
The meeting series will conclude with the third Senior Officials' Plenary Meeting on Aug 27-28, where officials will review progress across APEC's workstreams and help shape priorities for the remaining meetings of China's 2026 host year ahead of APEC Economic Leaders' Week in Shenzhen this November.
China signs 6 food trade, customs cooperation deals with APEC partners
China signs 6 food trade, customs cooperation deals with APEC partners
Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett, Guyana's permanent representative to the United Nations (UN), emerged as the top candidate in the second informal straw poll for the next UN secretary-general, held Friday by the Security Council.
Rodrigues Birkett received eight "encourage" votes, edging ahead of Costa Rica's Rebeca Grynspan, according to sources familiar with the closed-door vote.
"The second round of straw polls has taken place," said Christina Markus Lassen, the UN ambassador of Denmark, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council for the month of August.
Lassen told reporters after the secret vote that "the candidates will be informed of the results through the respective permanent representatives of nominating member states. The President of the General Assembly will also be informed that the straw poll has been concluded."
Through straw polls, the Security Council selects a candidate to recommend to the General Assembly for appointment as the next UN secretary-general.
Security Council straw polls on secretary-general candidates are informal closed-door ballots used to gauge support for the candidates. Their results are not officially released.
Article 97 of the UN Charter states that the secretary-general shall be appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council.
Lassen did not provide any details of Friday's vote. However, it is believed that all eight candidates were on the ballot.
The eight candidates currently in the race are: Ivonne A-Baki, former Ecuadorian minister and diplomat; Michelle Bachelet, former Chilean president and former UN high commissioner for human rights; Maria Fernanda Espinosa, former UN General Assembly president and former foreign minister and defense minister of Ecuador; Rafael Grossi of Argentina, current director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency; Rebeca Grynspan, former vice president of Costa Rica and current secretary-general of the UN Conference on Trade and Development; Olara Otunnu of Uganda, former UN under-secretary-general; Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett, Guyana's permanent representative to the United Nations; and Macky Sall, former president of Senegal.
Security Council members were believed to have received one ballot per candidate, containing the candidate's name followed by three options: "encouraged," "discouraged," and "no opinion expressed," according to What's in Blue, which provides insights into evolving Security Council actions.
The term of current UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will end on December 31.
Guyana's UN envoy leads in second straw poll for next secretary-general
