In the two days, all activities of the 2022 East Asia Marine Cooperation Platform Qingdao Forum were carried out smoothly. Nearly 400 guests, including marine experts, economists, cultural scholars, and entrepreneurs from multiple countries and regions, and over 1,000 enterprises attended the Forum.
Highlighting the Vision of “Decade of Ocean” to Establish an International High-End Forum
The Forum determined the specific themes focusing on the seven visions of the “UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development”; it invited representatives from the related national and international organizations, and organized a total of 104 keynote speeches and two roundtable forums.
Vladimir Ryabinin, Executive Secretary of UNESCO IOC, announced that the UN Decade of Ocean Collaborative Centre on Ocean Climate was approved. Qingdao West Coast New Area became the first local government in China deeply involved in the UN Decade of Ocean Collaborative Program.
Since the establishment of the International Marine Chamber of Commerce Association Alliance, 24 international marine associations from more than 10 countries, including the Singapore Shipping Association and the Russian Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises, have applied for membership, and the “East Asia Marine Cooperation Platform & IMCCAA Marine Industry Economy Channel” has been put online.
More than 550 enterprises and institutions from over 70 countries and regions, and 66,000 visitors attended the East Asia Marine Expo; the number of online visitors reached 1.5 million, realizing the intended volume of transactions of RMB 4.14 billion. 156 professional visiting groups from Shandong and other provinces attended and held more than 50 supporting activities.
Promoting Practical Cooperation to Make a Batch of High-Quality Achievements
The maritime cities in the Jiaodong Economic Circle, including Yantai, Weihai, Weifang, and Rizhao, and cities in other provinces, including Tianjin, Hebei (Caofeidian) Free Trade Zone, Zhejiang (Zhoushan) Free Trade Zone, Sanya in Hainan, Xiamen in Fujian, Nanning in Guangxi, and Nantong in Jiangsu, attended the Expo.
During the Forum, a series of public service products were released, including the Modern Ocean City Research Report (2021), Report on Cultural and Tourism Development Index of Maritime Cities in East Asia (2022), Container Port Performance Index in East Asia (2021), FTSE Xinhua A50 of Qingdao, and China, Japan, and South Korea Trade Index.
A matchmaking meeting for head enterprises, a matchmaking meeting for trading enterprises, and a special meeting for marine product procurement were organized. Four outstanding projects of the Global Marine Tech Innovation and Entrepreneurship Contest, “Portable Waters Intelligent Unmanned Equipment” Shenzhen Chasing-Innovation Technology Co., Ltd., and “New Energy Permanent Magnet Ship Drive System” of CSIC 712 Research Institute, have settled down in the Qingdao West Coast New Area.
Making Meticulous Preparations to Ensure the Successful Holding
The Executive Committee of the Forum made every effort to prevent and control COVID-19, to ensure safety and zero accidents; 212 medical staff engaged in the health security.
The Forum introduced the “Cloud Service Hall for Enterprises” for the first time, and displayed the “Cloud Office of Government Affairs”, one-window promotion of enterprise policies, as well as the agent and assistant services.
The Qingdao Forum improved the level of the forum, activity contents, scale of the exhibition, and cooperation achievements, and promoted maritime cooperation in East Asia and extensive international exchanges and cooperation; therefore, it will play an important role as a platform for further building a Blue Partnership Network, deepening the platform cooperation mechanism, and jointly establishing a maritime community with a shared future in East Asia.
