China Focus: Experts call for building maritime community with a shared future

SHANGHAI, April 23 (Xinhua) -- At a forum Wednesday, experts advocated for building a maritime community with a shared future and playing a positive role in fostering maritime cooperation, governance and security.

Approximately 200 guests from universities, the shipping industry and research institutes attended the inaugural Shanghai Forum for a Maritime Community with a Shared Future, held at Shanghai Maritime University.

In an initiative issued at the event, participants called for joint efforts to protect mankind's blue homeland and build a shared blue future, advocating for enhanced maritime security awareness, regulated development of marine resources, protection of the marine ecological environment, safe and orderly maritime navigation, safeguarding of national maritime rights and interests, and the maintenance of peace and stability at sea.

Held under the theme "Win-Win Blue Future: China's Solution and the Global Vision," the forum commemorates the sixth anniversary of China's introduction of the concept of building a maritime community with a shared future, first proposed in April 2019.

Participants believed that the maritime community with a shared future is a key part of the community with a shared future for mankind, a concept put forward by China. It upholds the exemplary traditions of China's maritime civilization, reflecting the Asian approach of mutual respect, consensus-building, and consideration for the comfort of all parties, contributing China's strength to the advancement of global maritime civilization.

The concept also generates fresh impetus for enhanced maritime exchanges and cooperation, and articulates China's vision for advancing global ocean governance.

Senior diplomats and experts engaged in discussions on a wide range of topics, including people-to-people diplomacy, international maritime cooperation, the evolving global situation and ocean governance.

Industry leaders, maritime economists, technology specialists, and maritime law scholars participated in roundtable dialogues centered on topics such as the sustainable development of marine resources, the use of clean ocean energy, multilateral consultation frameworks, the protection of marine biodiversity, and the enhancement of maritime security through innovative governance mechanisms.

CHINA CONTRIBUTES TO MARITIME DEVELOPMENT, GOVERNANCE, SECURITY

Attendees of the forum elaborated on how China is making significant contributions to building a maritime community with a shared future by enhancing global maritime connectivity and rulemaking. They also emphasized the importance of maintaining maritime peace and advancing cooperation for improved maritime governance.

Jiang Luning, former director of overseas business of China Merchants Port, the country's largest public terminal operator, told Xinhua on the sidelines of the forum that since the proposal of building a maritime community with a shared future in 2019, China's public port operators have made significant progress in driving international maritime cooperation.

China Merchants Port and COSCO Shipping Ports now rank among the world's top three terminal operators, with over 50 overseas port investments across six continents, laying a strong foundation for advancing the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and global connectivity.

Beyond infrastructure, China has expanded into deeper maritime economic cooperation, such as energy projects in Sri Lanka and multimodal logistics in Djibouti, serving inland countries like Ethiopia.

These initiatives not only enhance port functions but also help integrate more countries into the blue economy. "We're also seeing transformative success stories like Greece's Piraeus Port, which has grown into a major regional shipping hub under Chinese management," Jiang said.

Yang Zewei, professor at Wuhan University School of Law, told Xinhua that the concept of a maritime community with a shared future is not only a public good offered by China to the international community, but also an active contribution to the development of international maritime law.

He noted that the current international legal framework governing the oceans remains ambiguous, with increasingly fragmented governance mechanisms. In this context, the maritime community with a shared future emerges as both a timely and visionary proposal, offering critical guidance for the future of ocean governance.

The Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement, signed in 2023 after two decades of negotiation, was significantly guided by the principles of the maritime community with a shared future, according to Yang.

Li Kaisheng, senior fellow and vice president of Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, told Xinhua that geopolitical turbulence has increasingly impacted the maritime domain, as seen in the Red Sea crisis and outsider forces' interference in the South China Sea.

"The ocean is a global common and no single country can monopolize or develop it in isolation," Li said, adding that future maritime governance and development must be rooted in international cooperation. In this regard, China is playing an active role by promoting the resolution of maritime disputes through diplomacy and dialogue.

On the security front, China advocates for "shelving disputes and pursuing joint development" and is engaged in negotiations on a Code of Conduct for the South China Sea with ASEAN countries. China is also a key driver of development in fields like deep-sea technology, marine equipment, and shipbuilding, Li said.

"Only under a peaceful and stable environment can the resources and functions of the ocean be fully utilized," Li added. ■