Maritime transport in international trade transportation in a dominant position, more than 90% of the world's import and export of goods through maritime transportation completed. At the "Silk Road Shipping" International Cooperation Forum held recently in Xiamen, Fujian Province, 13 new members, including the Ghana Ports Authority, Piraeus Terminal Company Limited and Abu Dhabi Terminal Company Limited, were formally awarded licenses. So far, the "Silk Road Shipping" alliance increased to 317 members.
The General Administration of Customs recently released statistics show that in the first eight months, China's "Belt and Road" countries to build a total of 12.62 trillion yuan of import and export, an increase of 3.6%. Among them, the export 7.01 trillion yuan, an increase of 9.4%.
As the first shipping-themed "Belt and Road" international integrated logistics service brand and platform, "Silk Road Shipping" was established in December 2018, covering all links in the industry chain, including ports, shipping, logistics, port and shipping services, production, trade and wholesale and retail. It covers all aspects of the industry chain, including ports, shipping, logistics, port and shipping services, production, trade and wholesale and retail.
The national "14th Five-Year Plan" clearly proposes to support the expansion of the influence of the "Silk Road Shipping" brand. At the forum, 16 newly-named routes were released to the public. So far, the total number of "Silk Road Shipping" named routes has reached 116, reaching 131 ports in 43 countries around the world, covering almost all countries and regions along the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road where important ports are located. Since the start of operation at the end of 2018, the "Silk Road Shipping" named container routes have operated a total of 12,096 ships, completed a container throughput of 14,128,800 TEUs, and led to a cumulative investment of nearly 40 billion yuan, increasing the port capacity of more than 10 million tons.
Zhao Chenxin, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission, believes that the development and innovation of maritime transportation is crucial to the promotion of global trade and economic development. Fujian is accelerating the construction of the core area of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, and has a very important position in the overall situation of building the "Belt and Road". The National Development and Reform Commission will work with relevant departments to further strengthen coordination, improve top-level design, increase support, promote the high-quality development of Silk Road shipping, focus on perfecting the international cooperation mechanism of Silk Road shipping, focus on promoting the development of multimodal Silk Road shipping, and focus on constructing a global network of Silk Road shipping.
As an important initiator of "Silk Road Shipping" and the daily operation and management unit, Chen Zhiping, Chairman of Fujian Provincial Port Group Limited Company, said in an interview with the reporter that "Silk Road Shipping" has been opened in Fujian to Jiangxi Xiangtang, Ganzhou, and extended to the central inland and other places. To the central inland sea-rail intermodal transportation related trains, is promoting the rapid development of southeast railroad intermodal transportation. At the same time, "Silk Road Shipping" is also promoting the soft connection of rules and standards, and has successively researched and released a series of port service standards, customs clearance service standards, and multimodal transportation port service standards. In addition, every year, it also selects excellent routes and terminals, and strives to improve the service level and efficiency of smooth transportation.
In recent years, the continuous expansion of "Silk Road Shipping" has strengthened the close ties between China and the world, and at the same time shared the opportunities of common prosperity with the world.
Sri Lanka is one of the earliest countries to build the "Belt and Road" with China, and Colombo Port City is a representative of the cooperation between the two countries. Sri Lanka's Minister of State for Investment Promotion, Mr. Amunugama, said that maritime transportation is an important part of global trade, and as an island nation, Sri Lanka has excellent ports. "China has provided support in the field of infrastructure, and 'Silk Road Shipping' has helped Sri Lanka realize its connectivity with global shipping, making great strides in our economic development, attracting more investors, and boosting the country's development."
As an important partner of "Silk Road Shipping", the direct route between Xiamen Port of China and Gdansk Port of Poland has been opened for 10 years. The chief representative of the Polish Investment and Trade Office in China, Mr. You Deliang, told the reporter that Chinese exporters have always attached great importance to the Polish market, and the economic and trade cooperation between the two countries has a very broad prospect. Over the years, the world's largest container ships in this route to and from the shuttle, for the economic and trade exchanges between China and Poland to build a bridge. He hoped that in the future, the two countries can strengthen the upstream and downstream industrial chain cooperation in the fields of machinery manufacturing, new energy vehicles, auto parts and other fields, and welcomed more Chinese enterprises to invest and prosper in Poland. At the same time, he also expects more Polish goods to enter the families of Chinese people through "Silk Road Shipping".
As the first African partner representative of "Silk Road Shipping" alliance, Stephen Owiah, Manager of Port Logistics Department of Ghana Ports Authority, said in an interview with the reporter that China is the world's second largest economy, Ghana attaches importance to economic and trade cooperation with China. Ghana ports to join the "Silk Road Shipping" alliance, will have an important impact on the economic and trade exchanges between Canada and China. He said that the "Belt and Road" will closely unite people of all countries, and "Silk Road Shipping" can promote economic exchanges and trade between African countries and China. At the same time, it can also promote cooperation among ports on the west coast of Africa.
Karim Fahssis, Director of Decarbonization Business of Maersk (China) Co., Ltd, said that since Maersk's first "Silk Road Shipping" route set sail in Xiamen in July 2019, there have been 24 routes named "Silk Road Shipping" routes. The "Silk Road Shipping" routes are now 24 routes. China's resources, technologies and industries will play an important role in the green and low-carbon transformation of the global shipping industry. The Chinese market is rich in renewable resources, biomass reserves are among the highest in the world, and the growth rate of green electricity needed to produce green methanol is leading the way. China also has unrivaled engineering capabilities. "We are seeking green fuel partners in China to contribute to a greener, more sustainable development." Kaka said.