Qingdao, in China's Shandong Province, played host to the 2024 Global Ocean Development Forum on Thursday, bringing together 667 representatives from marine organizations, universities, enterprises, and research institutions across 41 countries and regions. This hybrid event, combining both online and offline participation, aimed to enhance international collaboration in the marine economy, technology, and ecology.
Organized by the Shandong Provincial People's Government and the Ministry of Natural Resources, the forum was executed by local authorities including the Qingdao Municipal Government and the Shandong Provincial Marine Development Bureau.
The theme for this year's forum, \"Let's 'sea' our futures – promoting blue partnerships for growth and sustainability,\" set the tone for a comprehensive agenda featuring 12 thematic activities. These activities covered a broad range of topics such as marine biotechnology, deep-sea resources, marine disaster control, port and shipping industries, marine technology, blue finance, low-carbon marine economy, and marine ecological protection.
Alongside the main forum, four additional events took place: the Shandong Marine Development Achievement Exhibition, the East Asia Marine Expo, the World's Most Beautiful Bays Photography Exhibition, and the Asia-Pacific Robot World Cup International Invitational in Qingdao.
During the opening ceremony, the 2024 China Ocean Development Index Report and the 2024 Ocean Development Forum Qingdao Initiative were unveiled. Additionally, 30 key marine projects from Shandong Province were signed on-site, marking significant investments in marine new energy materials, transportation, engineering equipment manufacturing, and marine biomedicine. These projects are set to foster a deep integration of innovation, industry, finance, and talent.
The main forum featured insightful speeches from notable figures including Sun Shuxian, Vice Minister of Natural Resources; Jens Eskelund, President of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China; as well as ambassadors and officials from Iceland, Greece, Cyprus, and various UN organizations. The discussions primarily focused on global blue economy collaboration, decarbonized shipping, and the Arctic blue economy.
The 2024 China Ocean Development Index Report provided a comprehensive quantitative assessment of the Chinese mainland's marine development from 2016 to 2023. The report highlighted an average annual growth rate of 2.9 percent, with the index reaching 125.3 in 2023, marking a 3 percent increase from the previous year. This growth underscores significant progress in high-quality marine development and the ongoing efforts to establish the Chinese mainland as a marine powerhouse.
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
