Port authorities and shipping industry leaders from around the world are gathering in China's eastern port city of Ningbo this week for the 2025 Maritime Silk Road Port Cooperation Forum, where participants released a joint "shipping consensus" advocating for enhanced multilateral cooperation in global maritime trade.
The forum, running from Monday to Thursday, has attracted over 1,000 delegates including more than 200 international guests from 44 countries and regions. The opening ceremony and main forum held on Tuesday produced two consensus documents highlighting the industry's unified support for dialogue and negotiation to resolve disputes.
The agreements came at a critical time as the sector faces mounting challenges from tariff disputes, economic instability, and geopolitical tensions.
The shipping industry is the backbone and barometer of the global economy, noted one of the consensus documents, emphasizing the need for collaborative solutions.
Cedric Virciglio, strategic planning director of France's Haropa Port, emphasized the vital role of collaboration in driving solutions.
"It's only with cooperation that we can overcome the different challenges that we have to face. With Ningbo, we have a very old cooperation," he said.
Representatives from developing nations particularly emphasized the forum's significance. Taing Samoeun, Under Secretary of State of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport of Cambodia expressed optimism about future collaboration.
"For Cambodia, as a small country and also a long-term friend with China, we would see more opportunities, especially in enhancing our cooperation of our two countries in the future, and as Cambodia is now looking to strengthen in terms of port service building capacity,"he said.
The event also served as a platform for infrastructure development discussions. Nigeria's Special Adviser to the Governor of Cross River State Otu Ita Otu highlighted his country's interest in Chinese port expertise.
"In my country,in my state, we are trying to build a deep sea port. China has experience in building a deep sea port. We need to come down here, me and my colleague, to make sure that we see the technology they have here and learn from it," he said.
As host city, Ningbo, home to the world's largest port connected to over 600 ports globally, demonstrated China's central role in maritime trade. The release of shipping consensus, along with a variety of deals signed at the forum, set out a clear voice that the shipping industry calls for multilateralism rather than economic decoupling.
Global port authorities champion unified strategies at Maritime Silk Road conference
Global port authorities champion unified strategies at Maritime Silk Road conference
