Report on maritime community with a shared future, sustainable development released in Shanghai on World Oceans Day

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By Yu Xi (Global Times) 14:17, June 09, 2025

Previously, nearly 200 experts from universities and colleges, ports and shipping companies, and research institutes in the maritime and ocean fields attended the Shanghai Forum for a Maritime Community with a Shared Future, which culminated in the report: A Maritime Community with a Shared Future and Sustainable Ocean Development — Joint Actions of China and Its Global Partners. However, the report was only released on Sunday.

According to the report, the widening disparities in marine economic development and the deterioration of the marine ecological environment present serious challenges to contemporary ocean governance, impacting the well-being and even the survival of us all. It calls for the need for joint solutions to shared challenges.

The report is an important attempt to "systematically present China's maritime governance philosophy and policy propositions to the international community," and a "vivid practice" of the concept of building a "maritime community with a shared future," Xie Xi, deputy dean of the National Ocean Research Institute of Shanghai Maritime University, told the Global Times on Sunday.

The report highlights both China's profound insights and its global responsibility regarding global maritime governance, while also demonstrating the innovative transformation and contemporary value of traditional Chinese cultural wisdom in addressing modern global challenges. Its core objective is to build consensus and jointly create a sustainable maritime future, Xie said. "China's innovations and breakthroughs in global ocean governance are a systematic project that progresses through three dimensions: ideas, pathways, and culture," Xie noted.

The report "has raised global awareness about the importance of oceans as lifelines of our planet, and it also advocates sustainable use of ocean resources," Degbe Sewodo Augustin, a foreign expert of Shanghai Maritime University, told the Global Times on Sunday.

"The international cooperation remains crucial for strengthening ocean governance. This is because issues such as climate change, plastic pollution, and illegal fishing can only be tackled through collaborative efforts," Augustin said.

At Sunday's meeting, several experts, including university professors, foreign experts and international students, gave presentations. The presentation topics included fisheries sustainability, global cooperation, shipbuilding tech and ocean-related cultural exchanges. Several experts emphasized that countries should intensify maritime-sector people-to-people exchanges and technical collaboration, calling for the establishment of a more open and inclusive international cooperation mechanism.

Thong Viro, deputy director general of Administration and Harbor of Sihanoukville Autonomous Port, also made a video speech at the meeting, with the topic related to "Maritime Community with a Shared Future and Sustainable Development."