Xi promises efforts to ensure smooth flow of global supply chain
Officials and experts from home and abroad attend the 2021 North Bund Forum on international shipping.
China will make all efforts to restore and ensure the smooth flow of global industrial and supply chains in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a congratulatory letter to the 2021 North Bund Forum on international shipping on Thursday.
Xi said China is willing to work with other countries to overcome the difficulties, adapt to the new development trend of green, low-carbon and intelligent shipping, and deepen international cooperation in shipping affairs.
China will promote the healthy development of the international shipping industry and contribute to building a community with a shared future for mankind, said Xi.
He hailed the positive role of the industry in coping with the pandemic, promoting trade recovery and maintaining the stability of industrial and supply chains globally.
The forum, themed "Openness and inclusiveness, innovation and reform, and win-win cooperation: embracing future development and restructuring of international shipping," is co-hosted by the Shanghai government and the Ministry of Transport and will close on Friday.
Shanghai Party secretary Li Qiang said Shanghai is working at a fast pace to become an international shipping center.
He said the forum can become a key exchange platform for bringing up global shipping issues, policies and an incubator for new rules.
Leading shipping and civil aviation companies and organizations launched the "Shanghai Initiative: Smoothing the international supply chain."
The initiative urged the global shipping sectors to cooperate in achieving intelligent, green and sustainable development, as well as cope with the pandemic and contribute to the global economic recovery.
The 2021 North Bund Forum on international shipping will end on Friday.
"Let's join hands and contribute to the building of a safe, smooth and green global supply chain," said Wan Min, chairman of the China COSCO Shipping Group.
The forum, initiated in Shanghai this year, aims to boost the global shipping industry and enhance international cooperation, both of which have been greatly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Officials from China's Ministry of Transport, the Shanghai government and the United Nations as well as international maritime and civil aviation organizations, along with famous economists delivered speeches.
The forum was held on the North Bund along the Huangpu River.
Foreign speakers shared their opinions online.
Kitack Lim, secretary general of the International Maritime Organization, said shipping remains at the core of the global supply chain to support international trade and ensure global economic development.
"Indeed, shipping will also be at the heart of the global post-COVID recovery," Lim said.
Stephen Creamer, director of Air Navigation Bureau at the International Civil Aviation Organization, said the year 2020 witnessed the worst declines in civil aviation in history with passenger levels falling to 2003 levels with airline and industry losses totaling close to half-a-trillion dollars.
"We are also now beginning to see the effects of the massive global vaccination initiative and signs of more steady and sustainable recovery," said Creamer.
The Asia-Pacific region has been leading that recovery in many aspects, largely on account of the domestic market resurgence in China, which returned to the pre-pandemic levels by the end of last year, he told the forum.
Shanghai ports handled 43.5 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units last year, leading the world for the 11th consecutive year. The city has also become one of the top three shipping centers for the first time, according to the Xinhua-Baltic Exchange International Shipping Center Development Index.
