On July 10, the “Commemoration of China National Maritime Day 2020 and Commendation of Maritime Science and technology” jointly sponsored by China Institute of Navigation (hereinafter referred to as CIN) and China Merchants Group was officially launched on the official website of CIN. The theme of the event was “science and technology helps the sustainable development of navigation”. CIN invited a number of guests from government sectors, shipping enterprises, academic institutions, etc. to share new ideas and practices in the field of maritime science and technology. It also announced the Science and Technology Award of CIN in 2019, the Outstanding Contribution Teams in Science and Technology in 2019, the Outstanding Contribution Individuals in 2020 and Science and Technology Award for Maritime Youth in 2020.
He Jianzhong, chairman of CIN, extended festive greetings to the sailors and maritime workers in his speech. He said, COVID-19 has still been spreading worldwide, and in the face of severe challenges, shipping enterprises should rely on technological innovation and integrate into the digital economy, which can fit for emerging industries and form new growth points and growth poles. He Jianzhong pointed out that modern information technology has accelerated the transformation and development of the industry. At the same time, it also faces some problems to be solved urgently: first, the integration and development of the “four networks” (network of shipping facilities, service network, energy network and information network) should be promoted as a whole. It is necessary to make up for the weakness of industrial foundation, open the threshold of mutual connection and reduce the application cost; the second challenge is to prevent and control the potential risks of network information security. Ways need to be found to effectively prevent the occurrence of hidden dangers such as “loss of connection” of blockchain, “disconnection” of supply chain and “leakage” of smart cloud; the third challenge is to promote the construction of international intelligent shipping system. Under the framework of IMO and other international organizations, it is necessary to build an international intelligent shipping agency, improve shipping regulations and technical standards, so as to give better play to the dominance and influence of China's standards; the fourth challenge is the cultivation of interdisciplinary professionals. The core of information technology competition is the competition for high-end talents. The shipping industry needs to find ways to deepen the reform of the education system, cultivation methods, policy environment and other aspects, in order to improve the cultivation mechanism and attract more talents; the fifth challenge is the optimization of the business and intelligent ecological environment. We should continue to implement policies of tax reduction and fee reduction, and constantly optimize the business environment at ports. At the same time, we should make efforts to cultivate the shipping ecology, enhance the awareness of openness and cooperation among all parties, and promote the deep integration of digital economy. He Jianzhong said that CIN is committed to integrating four functions of “Industry-Learning-Research-Government” and building a collaborative, open, shared and integrated deep learning platform. CIN will focus on the above five aspects, conduct in-depth investigation and research, give full play to the advantages of maritime think tanks, put forward targeted solutions and coping strategies, so as to jointly promote the high-quality development of the shipping industry.
Maritime goodwill ambassador Xu Zuyuan of IMO said in his keynote speech that navigation is the foundation of sustainable development of marine economy. China has a long coastline. Since the reform and opening up, the marine economy has become an important support for the national economy. It is not only an important carrier of opening up, but also an important guarantee of national economic security, and a strategic space for future development. Xu Zuyuan pointed out that in order to jointly promote the sustainable development of navigation and marine economy, it is necessary to be guided by the concept, take aim at the frontier of international science and technology, accelerate the transformation and upgrading of structural adjustment of navigation and marine industries, promote the integration of China's industries into the high-end of the global value chain, so that we can achieve industrial development, industrial interaction, complementary use of land and sea resources and realize coordinated development of land and sea economy; it is necessary to be guided by the planning, make overall planning, and establish and improve the space planning system of land and sea; it is necessary to be guided by science and technology, and further intensify efforts to tackle key maritime technologies that are autonomous and controllable. Through technological innovation, extension of industrial chain, division of refinement and optimization of structure, we can speed up the elimination of energy-consuming and outdated excess capacity, and enhance our core competitiveness; it is necessary to be guided by laws and regulations, accelerate the establishment and completion of laws and regulations related to the sea in international, domestic and regional legal aspects. We should constantly improve the capacity of comprehensive marine governance and the modernization of the governance system; it is necessary to be guided by mechanism, strengthen the top-level design, straighten out the powers and responsibilities of the central and local governments, and clarify the work priorities and requirements of governments at all levels; it is necessary to be guided by talents and increase the training of comprehensive maritime talents. We can focus on cultivating or introducing “elite” talents by university science and technology parks, marine high-tech industrial bases, bases of rejuvenating the ocean through science and technology and other institutions.
The following people delivered the keynote speeches. They are Cao Desheng, director and secretary of the CPC Leading Group of Maritime Safety Administration of Ministry of Transport; Hu Jianhua, general manager and Deputy Secretary of the Party committee of China Merchants Group; Sun Ziyu, member of Standing committee of the communist party and deputy general manager of CCCC; Sun Wei, member of the CPC Leading Group and deputy general manager of China Shipping Group Co., Ltd.; Cai Huixing, chairman and Deputy Secretary of the Party committee of COSCO Shipping Technology Co., Ltd.; Mo Jianhui, President and Deputy Secretary of the Party committee of China Classification Society; Yan Xinping, academician of Chinese Academy of engineering and winner of the second national top innovation prize; Fei Weijun, President and Deputy Secretary of the Party committee of the Institute of Marine Science of the Ministry of transport; Sun Yuqing, President and Deputy Secretary of the Party committee of Dalian Maritime University; and Lu Jing, President and Deputy Secretary of the Party committee of Shanghai Maritime University,
Zhang Baochen, executive vice president of CIN, introduced the compilation and brief contents of the report on the development of China's Maritime Science and Technology (hereinafter referred to as the development report). In March 2020, CIN launched the preparation of the development report, which has attracted extensive attention from both inside and outside of the industry. The development report is composed of 1 general report and 11 sub reports. It is planned to be officially published within the year. The general report and sub reports are divided into four parts: introduction, development status, comparative analysis at home and abroad, prospects and countermeasures. The sub reports are set up according to the professional fields, including ship handling, ship electromechanic, navigation guarantee, communication navigation and remote sensing, navigation engineering and operation, port construction and operation, cargo transportation and safety, shipping management and services, shipping policies and regulations, shipping supervision, navigation culture and education, etc.
Zhang Baochen said that through the research on the development of maritime science and technology, we can continuously summarize and report the major scientific and technological progress in the field of navigation in China, compare and analyze the gap and reasons between home and abroad, predict the development trend in the next five years or more, and put forward strategies and measures for the development of China's maritime science and technology, which can be used for national decision-making and scientific research, instruction, production, personnel management and institutions in the field of navigation to provide important reference.