Key maritime forum spotlights Hong Kong's role in global shipping's green, smart shift

The two-day World Maritime Merchants Forum 2025 commenced in Hong Kong on Monday, gathering professionals across the global shipping industry chain to explore ways to transform the sector toward greater efficiency, green development and sustainability amid a volatile global economic and trade landscape.

Addressing the forum, John Lee, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), said in a world being reshaped by geopolitical shifts, technological innovation and climate change, "Hong Kong's role as a stable, reliable, and dynamic maritime hub has never been more vital."

Hong Kong offers a simple and low tax regime, free port status and the unfettered flow of capital, information, and talent, said Lee, noting that for the sixth consecutive year, Hong Kong has ranked fourth globally in the International Shipping Centre Development Index, excelling in port infrastructure, maritime services, and its overall operating environment.

Hong Kong is determined to be at the forefront as a premier green maritime fuel bunkering center, he said, emphasizing that its proximity to the Chinese mainland -- the world's largest producer of green maritime fuel -- affords the city a crucial advantage in developing itself into a global hub for green maritime fuel trade.

Leung Chun-ying, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, believed that the HKSAR should seize the opportunities from the motherland's new round of opening-up and strengthen its role as a "super-connector."

He called for increased investment in technological innovation and enhanced cooperation to make Hong Kong "an origin and incubator for new global shipping rules and emerging maritime industries."

He also urged efforts to promote the green and intelligent transformation of global shipping, and give full play to Hong Kong's strengths in high-end services such as "shipping finance, maritime law, ship management, insurance brokerage and consulting, to foster the efficient integration of key shipping-related elements."

China's Vice Minister of Transport Fu Xuyin underscored Hong Kong's pivotal role as an international shipping center in the Belt and Road Initiative and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area development.

Mable Chan, secretary for transport and logistics of the HKSAR government, said Hong Kong is establishing a comprehensive "rail-sea-land-river" intermodal transport system to extend Hong Kong's cargo sources to inland regions of the mainland.

Hong Kong will also establish "partner port" relationships with mainland ports, which hold strategic collaboration significance, as well as regions under the cooperation framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, and prepare for the development of a green shipping corridor, she added.

Arsenio Dominguez, secretary-general of the International Maritime Organization, said in a video address that digitalization is a key driver of industry transformation and called for greater attention to the upskilling of seafarers to meet challenges posed by new low-carbon fuels and technologies.

Key maritime forum spotlights Hong Kong's role in global shipping's green, smart shift

An exchange program between China and France has provided thousands of French students with the opportunity to attend Chinese universities over the past year, giving them a comprehensive and multidimensional view of the country through their studies.

In 2024, China proposed an initiative aimed at bringing the total number of French students in China to more than 10,000 and doubling the number of young Europeans on exchange programs to China within the next three years.

Then, in June of that year, the education ministries of China and France jointly launched the Young Envoys Scholarship (YES) program during the first China-France Education Development Forum held in Paris.

Among the students to take advantage of the program is Mathis Champaigne, a French master's exchange student from the Institute of Higher Electronic Education (ISEP) in Paris. Through YES, he arrived at the School of Artificial Intelligence and Automation, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) this September for a five-month study program.

According to the student, the program offered a valuable opportunity to learn about artificial intelligence (AI) from renowned scholars.

"In this country, you are very advanced in this AI field and so you have a lot of researchers, a lot of universities, very involved in this AI research. So for me that was an opportunity to learn from a great professor in a great university," Champaigne said.

Currently, 29 French students from seven French universities are studying at HUST across various majors, for periods ranging from two weeks to a full academic year. For some, a short-term exchange can give way to deeper ambitions.

"I want to extend my semester and stay longer because I feel like here the campus is made for students to have good experience while studying," said another YES program participant of HUST, an undergraduate student from the University of Strasbourg.

Since the initiative was proposed over a year ago, more than 8,300 French students have come to China for exchanges and studies, helping to spur a broader trend across Europe, with about 32,000 students from across the continent having chosen to undertake exchange programs in China.

The program also partners with other Chinese institutions, including the East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST), where exchange students have had similarly successful experiences.

"So, the YES program is a really good program to study abroad and you can choose many different topics and minors. I think that's the best way to see China," said Paul Ferrigno, another YES program participant of ECUST, a graduate student from Montpellier Higher College of Chemistry.

"And engineers in the future, they will have to see by themselves how this country is changing very quickly, how this country is very good in innovation, research, technology, and finally how China is addressing global warming and sustainable development," said Jacques Mercadier, French dean of the International Elite Engineering School of ECUST.

Exchange program fosters China-France partnership in talent cultivation