The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has adopted the United Nations Convention on Negotiable Cargo Documents, marking a major step forward in the governance of global trade and transport.

The convention was approved on December 15 during the UNGA's 80th session. It extends the long-established advantages of negotiable maritime bills of lading to all modes of transport for the first time. Under the new framework, a single negotiable document – in paper or electronic form – can represent goods transported by any combination of road, rail, air or sea.

Led by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), the convention was launched in 2019 and finalized after six years of consultations and negotiations. It is the first international transport convention led by China since the 1924 Hague Rules, underscoring China's growing role in shaping international legal frameworks.

Experts state that the convention aims to make global trade more efficient and inclusive. By creating a new type of negotiable cargo document for goods in transit, it allows cargo to be resold or pledged as collateral during transportation. This is expected to improve access to trade financing while ensuring goods can continue to circulate smoothly across different transport modes, even in the event of disruptions.

Against the backdrop of rising unilateralism and headwinds facing globalization, the convention fills a long-standing legal gap. It expands the mature, centuries-old practice of negotiability from maritime transport to multimodal logistics, a move experts describe as a historic leap in the evolution of cargo documentation.

Ji Wenhua, a professor at the University of International Business and Economics, and scholar Wu Aijie from the same institution, said that repairing globalization through rules is one of the most scarce and valuable public goods in today's international community. They noted that the convention's journey – from practices in China's inland regions, to negotiations in Vienna, adoption in New York, and a future signing in Accra – itself reflects the global nature of the process.

The convention has drawn attention for addressing practical bottlenecks in modern supply chains. As multimodal transport becomes the norm, non-maritime transport documents have long lacked negotiability and financing functions. By coordinating rules at the international level, the convention makes the value of goods in transit easier to identify, transfer and utilize, helping to reduce transaction frictions and improve trade efficiency. However, experts caution that its real-world impact will depend on progress in signing, ratification and implementation, as well as alignment with domestic laws, industry standards and digital infrastructure.

Tian Ya, a senior official with the Ministry of Commerce's Department of Treaty and Law, said China played an active and constructive role throughout the process, from proposing the issue to shaping the final text. The UN has recognized China as "the proposer and a major driving force behind the convention."

Tian added that China will intensify follow-up work to promote the convention's early entry into force, so that its benefits can be shared more broadly across the global trading system.