East Asia marine forum to open this month

A forum on marine cooperation among East Asian countries will bring together people from around the world, including economists, entrepreneurs, and scientists, to explore cooperation in the marine economy.

The East Asia Marine Cooperation Platform Qingdao Forum will be held from Sept 21 to 22 in the Qingdao West Coast New Area.

The event is organized by the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Shandong Provincial People's Government, and the Qingdao municipal government and will be held via both online and offline channels this year.

About 400 participants from more than 20 countries and regions, including China, Japan, South Korea, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Europe, and the United States, will attend the event.

The event consists of an opening ceremony and a main forum, four sub-forums, the Global Marine Intelligent Tech Innovation and Entrepreneurship Contest, and the East Asia Marine Expo.

Keynote speeches, annual reports on maritime cooperation in East Asia, the signing of major project agreements, and a main forum will be featured at the opening ceremony.

Four sub-forums themed on ocean health, the development of marine culture and tourism in East Asia, the development of East Asian ports, and the algae biological industry, will be held.

The East Asia Marine Expo, with an exhibition area of 60,000 square meters, will consist of six exhibition areas for marine equipment, new infrastructure, international consumer goods, and fishing and aquatic products.

More than 770 companies and institutions, including ABB Group, Linde AG, Rosneft Oil, Huawei, and DJI, will present nearly 50,000 exhibits at the expo.

The East Asia Marine Cooperation Platform is a part of the Belt and Road Initiative. It is designed to usher in a new era of maritime cooperation among China, Japan, South Korea, and ASEAN.

Since 2016, the Qingdao West Coast New Area has held four such events, attracting more than 1,100 guests and over 1,600 enterprises from more than 50 countries and regions and increasing cooperation in marine economy, ports and shipping, cultural tourism, marine environmental protection, and humanities education.