Today is China’s sixteenth Maritime Day, and is also the day which marks “World Maritime Day” in China. In order to further carry forward the spirit of the Silk Road, inherit the navigation culture, enhance the public awareness of navigation and oceans, and promote the “Belt and Road” initiative and the construction of the maritime power and the transportation power, the following announcement is issued with the agreement of the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy and other 25 member units of the China Maritime Day Organizing Committee
More than 2000 years ago, Zhang Qian trekked across vast steppes and deserts, and opened the transcontinental passage connecting Asia, Europe and Africa, known today as the Silk Road. More than 600 years ago, Zheng He sailed across rough seas, and created sea routes linking the East with the West, namely, the Maritime Silk Road. Zheng He's seven voyages to the West, the great feat, opened the prelude to the era of world navigation, connecting world civilization, thus remaining immortal in the history of human navigation.
At present the COVID-19 pandemic is spreading all over the world, countless people dedicated themselves to the front-line production to ensure the connectivity of international logistics supply chain and the stability of world trade. They sailed around the world carrying pandemic prevention materials as well as production and life materials for thousands of miles, displaying the Silk Road spirit of “peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual benefit and win-win result” and endowing the Silk Road with the connotation of the new era.
This is an era of the ocean. As the largest cargo trading country and the second largest economy in the world, China has its shipping routes and service networks spreading all over the major countries and regions in the world. More than 90% of its international trade cargo circulation is inseparable from marine transportation. Maritime transportation plays an important role in promoting the development of world economy and trade and building a community with a shared future for mankind. Thanks to the “ Belt and Road” initiative, China becomes increasingly interdependent with countries along the route in economic, technological and cultural exchanges and cooperation with ocean as its carrier, and meanwhile ensures the orderly development of the dialogue and cooperation related to the ocean with the countries involved, which further enrich the connotations of the marine community with a shared future. The issue of the program of building national strength in transportation has sounded the clarion call to march towards a leading transportation power that satisfies people with strong guarantee. Today is a festival for Chinese people dedicated to maritime industry, including more than 700,000 seafarers and more than 1 million marine fishery crew, as well as maritime workers, Chinese navy, coast guard and maritime militia. You face the waves for the people's safety and harmony; you work day and night for the people's happiness; you sail thousands of miles for the prosperity of your motherland. On this occasion, I would like to express my high respect and sincere thanks to you.
2020 is the year of building a well-off society in an all-round way. China has made remarkable achievements in maritime and marine undertakings: The port scale, the number of crew, shipbuilding output, and the scale of maritime fleet rank among the top in the world. What’s more, the rapid development of the shipbuilding industry, offshore fisheries, marine development and marine scientific research, the increasing improvement of maritime salvage management system, and the peaceful escort of the navy have all demonstrated China's image as a great power in fulfilling its international obligations. Nowadays, Chinese people dedicated to maritime industry are endeavoring to write a new chapter in the 21st century Maritime Silk Road and the construction of a transportation power, and are advancing at full speed in the historical process of realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
The theme of China Maritime Day is “work together to maintain the connectivity of international logistics”, and the theme of World Maritime Day is “promoting sustainable shipping and shaping a sustainable earth”. Under the impact of COVID-19, China Maritime Day this year witnesses activities with more flexibility and variety. Today, the 2020 China Maritime Day forum is held in Shanghai in a combination of online and offline activities. With the epidemic prevention and control being normalized, other regions of our country, according to local conditions, carry out various related activities, aiming at promoting higher-level and more dimensional communication and cooperation between China and the global maritime industry, and further promoting the construction of a marine community with a shared future for mankind.
Historical ships ride the wind and waves, and the trend of times is marching forward. While actively addressing the impact of the epidemic and the downward trend in global economy and trade, China, in the course of developing its navigation and marine industry, will be guided by Xi Jinping's new socialist concept of China, adhere to the new development concept, persist in promoting high quality development, and accelerate the construction of the maritime power and also the transportation power. Chinese maritime-related personnel shoulder the historical mission of constructing the “the Belt and Road” and building China into a maritime power and a transportation power, and as strikers and fighters of the new era, will continue to compose a new chapter in realizing the Chinese dream, the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind.
China Maritime Day Organizing Committee
July 11, 2020