Experts: Global cooperation essential to tackling ocean challenges

Practical international cooperation, rather than geopolitical rivalry, is essential to addressing the mounting challenges facing oceans, officials and experts from China and abroad said.

They made the remarks on Friday at the seventh Symposium on Global Maritime Cooperation and Ocean Governance in Sanya, Hainan province.

The three-day symposium brought together more than 400 participants from over 30 countries and regions, including officials, scholars, and representatives of international organizations and maritime institutions.

"The oceans are not a hunting ground for the strong to stake out claims, but a shared home of humanity," Assistant Foreign Minister Zhao Zhiyuan said.

The international community must build strategic mutual trust, oppose maritime hegemony, reject unilateralism and bloc politics, and work for a more just and equitable international maritime order, Zhao said at the opening ceremony of the symposium.

He called on the international community to promote practical cooperation in areas like port and shipping, marine fishery, and energy and resources. Zhao also expressed the need to develop emerging maritime industries and reject harmful practices that undermine international trade and division of labor, such as exclusive competition, decoupling, and supply chain disruptions.

As a responsible maritime nation, China will continue to contribute to global maritime cooperation and governance, safeguard the international maritime order, and promote the well-being of humanity, Zhao said.

Susiripala Manawadu, governor of Sri Lanka's Southern Province, said that challenges brought by rapid technological advances, industrial development, geopolitical competition, and environmental changes transcend national boundaries.

No country can effectively address them alone, he said, adding that international coordination, information sharing, scientific cooperation, and collective action is essential.

Highlighting the importance of maintaining maritime cooperation despite political differences, Won Tae-ho, president of the Korea Institute for Maritime Strategy, said that reliable channels are needed for cooperation where interests overlap.

Cooperation could start in areas such as marine science, pollution response, and coastal protection, Won said.

"Successful cooperation can be built through experience," he added.

Ahmed Shiyam, the Maldives' minister of fisheries, agriculture, and ocean resources, said that the ocean is vital to the food security, economic development, and well-being of small island developing countries.

He expressed the Maldives' willingness to deepen cooperation with China and other partners in fishery technology, investment, and marine ecological protection.

China has established blue partnerships with more than 50 countries and international organizations and implemented over 100 "small and beautiful" livelihood projects in this field, according to Sun Shuxian, vice-minister of natural resources.

Sun called for deepening international cooperation in emerging fields, including marine renewable energy, marine biotechnology, deep-sea exploration, marine big data, and artificial intelligence.

China will also promote exchanges of scientific knowledge, technology, data, and standards, and to continue supporting developing countries in strengthening their ocean governance capabilities, he said in a video message.

China stands ready to work with other countries to safeguard ocean peace, promote sustainable development, and advance global ocean governance in a more equitable and inclusive direction, Sun said.