China and EU join hands to protect oceans for next generation

The “Blue Earth” beach clean-up event is launched in Tianjin on September 16. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The “Blue Earth” beach clean-up event was held in Tianjin on September 16 by the European Union Delegation to China and the State Oceanic Administration of the People’s Republic of China (SOA) as part of the EU-China Blue Year.

Representatives from the European Union and China, two of the world’s leading maritime actors, joined hands at Dongjiang Port Beach in Tianjin to highlight their responsibility for protecting the oceans for future generations.

This one-day environmental conservation event began as over 200 volunteers, including representatives of the European Union Delegation to China and SOA, along with supporters from China National Offshore Oil Corporation and China Society for Oceanography, as well as students from the Tianjin Minhou Road Elementary School, Tianjin Nankai District Huaxia Elementary School, Tianjin No. Fourteen Middle School, Tianjin Haihe Middle School, Tianjin Binhai Foreign Language School, and Nankai University Costal City School, assembled on the beach to clean litter.