The goals of the training workshop are to enhance awareness and understanding of issues related to trade, biodiversity conservation and sustainable development; and to build the capacity in China to address these issues at national level and in international negotiations. Specifically, the training workshop aims to:

• increase individual and institutional capacity to address the environmental aspects of trade issues that will arise as a result of China's WTO membership, particularly in the area of trade, biodiversity and sustainable development;

• enhance individual and institutional capacity for developing proactive positions for formulating WTO rules governing the relationship between trade, biodiversity conservation and sustainable development, and for facilitating the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity, building the capacity for the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and improving the implementation of CITES;

• increase local and national support for the integration of trade, biodiversity conservation and sustainable development policies at national and provincial levels;

• enhance capacity in China for participating in WTO negotiations and contributing to the development of WTO rules governing trade in biological resources; and

• create a replicable training program on trade and environment issues with an emphasis on trade, biodiversity and sustainable development that can be carried out in other developing countries in Asia.