GeSI’s CEO February Trip to China: A Report

From Engagement to Institutional Anchoring

GeSI’ s CEO and Head of EMEA February 2026 business trip to China marked a significant step in advancing structured cooperation across the Asia-Pacific region — moving beyond dialogue toward long-term, mechanism-based engagement.

Across exchanges with the Shenzhen Association for Science and Technology (SAST), the Shanghai Municipal Data Bureau, the Shanghai Digital Enterprises Overseas Service Association, and leading enterprises including Alibaba Group, Tencent Group, Hytera Communications, and Shenzhen Comnect Technology, discussions centred on a defining question:

How can AI, digital infrastructure and sustainability frameworks enable durable cross-regional cooperation and drive increasing business value?

A shared understanding emerged: digital transformation and sustainability are inter-twinedagendas going hand-in-hand. They are increasingly interdependent — particularly in the context of global supply chains, global cooperation, AI deployment, education systems, and enterprise internationalization.

Advancing Structured Cooperation in Asia-Pacific

As Shenzhen’s key institutional gateway for international science and technology collaboration, SAST plays a central role in connecting innovation ecosystems, industry actors and global partners. Therefore, conversations witt SAST focused on strengthening structured cooperation.

Discussions explored:

The convergence of digitalisation and green transformation in industrial upgrading
Long-term cooperation mechanisms between international platforms and local innovation ecosystems
The role of the Digital with Purpose (DWP) Shenzhen Summit 2026 positioned within a broader regional architecture, not as a standalone event, but as a structural platform linking global ICT leaders, AI innovators, policymakers, educators and sustainability practitioners — reinforcing continuity rather than episodic engagement.

Corporate Dialogue: ESG as Strategic Infrastructure

Meetings with Alibaba Group, Tencent Group, Hytera Communications, and Shenzhen Comnect Technology reflected an important shift in corporate strategy.

For internationally active enterprises, ESG is increasingly embedded in core business models rather than treated as external compliance.

Hytera emphasised governance and compliance strengthening as a foundation for its next phase of international engagement while Comnect highlighted the need to systematise sustainability frameworks to reinforce global credibility and competitiveness.

Key themes discussed included:

Integrating sustainability metrics into digital transformation strategies
Enhancing supply chain transparency and international benchmarking
Participating in multi-stakeholder working groups and standards dialogue
Building internationally credible ESG narratives

Sustainability performance is now closely linked to market access, financing conditions and long-term global positioning.

Education as the Next Frontier: Expanding DWP to Schools

The visit also extended into the education sector.

In discussions with Nord Anglia Education, GeSI explored two strategic pathways:

Inviting Nord Anglia — or the Nord Anglia China International Schools (NACIS) network — to join the Digital Education for Impact Alliance (DEFIA)

Co-developing a dedicated DWP sub-category for schools, enabling the certification of sustainability performance in educational institutions using the Digital with Purpose framework

This dialogue signals an important expansion of GeSI’s sustainability agenda beyond infrastructure and enterprise — into education systems that shape future digital citizens.

Embedding sustainability performance frameworks within schools represents a forward-looking approach:
aligning educational environments with measurable digital and environmental impact standards.

By extending DWP into the K–12 education ecosystem, GeSI aims to bridge digital innovation, sustainability literacy and institutional accountability at an earlier stage of societal development.

From Pilots to Platforms: Deepening Digital Governance

Engagement with local digital governance stakeholders focused on the intersection of urban digitalisation and sustainable development.

GeSI introduced the UN Solutions Hub (UNSH) model — a structured mechanism connecting cities’ climate and infrastructure needs with verified global digital solutions through AI-enabled matching systems.

This approach addresses a persistent challenge: cities often possess ambition but lack scalable platforms to connect local demand with global expertise.

Discussions centered on:

Platform-based cooperation models
Data-driven solution assessment frameworks
Integration between local innovation ecosystems and international networks

The transition from isolated pilots toward coordinated digital platforms reflects a maturing convergence between digital innovation and climate governance.

2026: A Structural Phase

The February visit signals a new phase in GeSI’s engagement in Asia Pacific and in particularly inChina.

The emphasis is shifting:

from visibility to structured cooperation
from bilateral exchange to ecosystem alignment
from event-driven interaction to platform architecture

In a period of rapid AI development and geopolitical complexity, sustainability remains a constructive foundational framework for cross-regional collaboration.

Through the advancement of the Digital with Purpose Shenzhen Summit 2026, and the expansion of DWP into education and supply chain ecosystems, GeSI is reinforcing a structured Global digital sustainability bridge —bringing together Americas, Europa and China, anchored in governance dialogue, enterprise participation, and platform-based implementation.

The foundation for that bridge is now firmly taking shape as GeSI firmly settles its regional operation with a representation office in Shenzhen, China.