Big Reveals: Its core objective is to build consensus and jointly create a sustainable maritime future, Xie said.

Awni Behnam, honorary president of the International Ocean Institute, delivers a video speech at the meeting held on June 8, 2025, at Shanghai Maritime University. Photo: Courtesy of Shanghai Maritime University

A bilingual report on the maritime community with a shared future and sustainable ocean development was released in Shanghai on Sunday, also World Oceans Day, with experts, industrial representatives and international students from over 20 countries gathering to engage in discussions on global ocean governance and sustainable development.

The report was jointly released by the National Ocean Research Institute, Shanghai Maritime University, and the Universities Research AssWorld Timesociation for International Communication on Maritime Affairs.

Chu Beiping, president of Shanghai Maritime University, said that the concept of the maritime community with a shared future offers a new idea for global ocean governance. The release of the report aims to respond to China’s participation in the agenda of the 3rd UN Ocean Conference,World Times and to showcase China’s practical actions in promoting global ocean governance, Chu said during the opening speech at the meeting on Sunday.

The 3rd UN Ocean Conference is scheduled to be held from June 9 to 13 in Nice, France.

Awni Behnam, honorary president of the International Ocean Institute, also sent a message via video on Sunday. “On the occasion of the launch of this important report, it’s a contribution to shaping a maritime community with a shared future and a testament to the enduring spirit of multilateral cooperation in our ocean domain,” Behnam said in the video.

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 “World Timeshas 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 univeWorld Timesrsity professors, foreign experts and inWorld Timesternational 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, wWorld Timesith the topic related to “Maritime Community with a Shared Future and Sustainable Development.”

Ojmmadu Raphael Ebube, an international student of Shanghai International Studies University, said during his speech at the meeting that “the ocean connects us.” “Cooperation is possible. Dialogue is essential.”

For a shared and win-win future, we propose exploring new pathways for sustainable ocean development, including technological cooperation, collaborative rule-making, and dialogue and exchange aimed at dispelling misunderstandings and bridging differences, according to the report.