The Inaugural Conference of Nautical Think Tanks in China Held in Beijing
On August 25th, the China Institute of Navigation held the inaugural conference of the Nautical Think Tank of China and the seminar on opportunities and challenges for the development of the shipping industry in the post pandemic era in Beijing. He Jianzhong, chairman of the China Institute of Navigation, senior leaders of the Ministry of Transport such as Li Shenglin, Hong Shanxiang and Xu Zuyuan, Zhang Jianyun, Niu Xinqiang and Yan Xinping, academicians of the CAE Member, and more than 80 representatives including heads of branches of the China Institute of Navigation and local navigation societies, attended the meeting. Lin Runhua, vice minister of the Academic Department of the Chinese Association for Science and Technology, and Sun Wenjian, Deputy Director of the Policy Research Office of the Ministry of Transport, delivered speeches congratulating the establishment of the China Navigation Think Tank. The meeting was presided over by Zhang Baochen, executive vice chairman of the China Institute of Navigation.
He Jianzhong pointed out in his speech that the establishment of China Navigation Think Tank is an important measure to gather industry consensus, bring into play the wisdom and power of industry experts and scholars and maritime science and technology workers, serve national strategies and accelerate the construction of a strong transportation country, a strong shipping country and a strong maritime country; it is an inevitable demand to study the new direction of industry development and promote the transformation and upgrading and high-quality development of the shipping industry in the post-epidemic era and also the essence of the "Double First Class" construction carried out by the China Institute of Navigation. China Nautical Think Tank should adhere to a problem oriented approach, accurately analyze and assess the trend of industry development, and form a "problem database". The mode of "small focus, large scope" should be adhered in order to form an "open source library" with distinctive characteristics of the society, prominent scientific and technological characteristics, and resources sharing. We should adhere to the principle of service-oriented, transforming the problems of induction and analysis into research projects, transforming the results of project research into policy and technological benefits, and forming a "achievements bank".
He Jianzhong stressed that the China Institute of Navigation should give full play to the guiding role of the Advisory Expert Committee of Nautical Think Tanks, as well as the supporting role of various professional and expert committees of the China Institute of Navigation so as to establish a research mechanism for academic think tanks, create a platform for publishing achievements of China Navigation Think Tanks, and explore funding channels and incentive mechanisms for new types of think tanks. In terms of strategic planning, it is necessary to focus on fundamental, significant, forward-looking, and strategic research in the field of navigation, and provide consulting opinions and suggestions for the formulation of national, industry, and related enterprise development strategic plans. In terms of public policies, research plans and opinions should be proposed on investment in new infrastructure policies, transformation and development of "dual circulation", adjustment of industry tax and fee policies, and support for maritime technology innovation. In terms of governing system, it is necessary to conduct centralized research on the integration and development of modern information technology and traditional shipping elements, strengthen international cooperation, and promote the modernization of industry governance system and governance capabilities. In terms of shipping talents, systematic research should be conducted on the construction of the crew team and the training methods and approaches for young maritime technology talents. In terms of maritime culture, it is necessary to conduct research on various cultural carriers, promote the spirit of navigation in the new era, and continuously enrich its connotation.
Before the conference, the first meeting of the Nautical Think Tank of China Management Committee reviewed and approved the "Regulations of China Maritime Think Tank" (referred to as the "Regulations") and the list of members of the Nautical Think Tank of China Advisory Expert Committee. The Regulations clearly states that based on unit members, individual members, branches, and local navigation societies, the Nautical Think Tank of China is a working mechanism and platform for the China Institute of Navigation to gather well-known experts and outstanding talents in the navigation industry to carry out public policy research and provide decision-making consultation in the field of navigation.
At the seminar on opportunities and challenges for the development of the shipping industry in the post epidemic era, Xu Zuyuan, former vice minister of the Ministry of Transport, Fei Weijun, president of the China Waterborne Transport Research Institute of the Ministry of Transport, Sun Yuqing, president of Dalian Maritime University, Huang Youfang, former president of Shanghai Maritime University, and Huang Xiaowen, deputy general manager of COSCO Shipping Group gave keynote speeches, seeking advice and wisdom for the development of the shipping industry in the post epidemic era.
Compilation Team of Nautical Think Tank of China: Xie Xie and Liu Ying
Tel: 010-65299836 Fax: 010-65299861 Email: liuying@cinnet.cn
Attachment: Speech by Li Shenglin at the Inaugural Conference of Nautical Think Tank of China
Speech by He Jianzhong at the Inaugural Conference of Nautical Think Tank of China
Speech by Lin Runhua, vice minister of the Academic Department of the Chinese Association for Science and Technology
Speech by Sun Wenjian, deputy director of the Policy Research Office of the Ministry of Transport
Framework Structure of Nautical Think Tank of China
Speech by Li Shenglin at the Inaugural Conference of Nautical Think Tank of China
Dear leaders, experts, and senior colleagues
Good morning!
I am very glad to be invited by Chairman Jianzhong to attend the inaugural meeting of Nautical Think Tank of China! It is also a great honor to be a member of the Advisory Expert Committee of Nautical Think Tank of China! Minister Huang Zhendong, the director of the Advisory Expert Committee, was supposed to give a speech, but he is still busy preparing the "History of Chinese Water Transport". He entrusted me, on behalf of the Advisory Expert Committee, to say a few words. I will make three brief points here.
First of all, congratulations on the establishment of the Nautical Think Tank of China.
A think tank is a kind of think tank that brings together the wisdom and talents of many experts and scholars to provide solutions or optimize solutions for the development of society, economy and other fields. There are many mature and well-known think tanks in the world Our country already had the prototype of a think tank as early as the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period. With the rapid development of China, think tanks have become an indispensable and important part of the modern leadership and management system. The Party Central Committee with President Xi at its core attaches great importance to the construction of think tanks. The General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council have issued documents to strengthen the construction of new think tanks with Chinese characteristics, support scientific decision-making with scientific consultation and lead scientific development with scientific decision-making. Nautical Think Tank of China should not only work as new types of think tanks for our country, but also be based on the social features, reflecting the industry characteristics of navigation and related fields. By utilizing innovative and cutting-edge science and technology, it can effectively gather the wisdom of maritime science and technology workers, and play an active decision-making and consulting role in serving national strategies such as strong country of the sea, strong country of science and technology, strong country of transportation and strong country of shipping and promote the high-quality development of various causes related to navigation to play an active role in decision-making advice.
Secondly, let’s talk about our advisory expert committee.
Under the leadership of the current Council of the China Institute of Navigation, the Nautical Think Tank of China attaches great importance to the work of the Advisory Expert Committee. There is a special chapter in the Constitution of Nautical Think Tank, which clearly explains the aspects including positioning, personnel composition and responsibilities of the advisory expert committee. The work of the committee mainly includes the following three aspects: first, grasp the positioning of the advisory expert committee. The Advisory Expert Committee is an integral part of the Nautical Think Tanks. In the future, members of the Advisory Committee should participate in evaluation, guidance, review, and other work under the unified leadership and arrangement of Nautical Think Tank of China. Secondly, the members of the Advisory Expert Committee are composed of senior experts in strategic, legal, technological, and management fields in the maritime industry and related fields. They not only have solid theoretical foundation, but also rich practical experience, so they have made important contributions to the construction of transportation in major countries and have the ability and obligation to use their own experience and resources to help improve the operational system of Nautical Think Tank of China, solve the difficulties and problems encountered in think tank research projects, and continuously enhance the comprehensive influence of maritime think tanks in the industry. Thirdly, encouragement and support young people in the industry. Talents are the fundamental foundation for the development of maritime think tanks, especially young and middle-aged talents who connect the past and the future. Therefore, the Advisory Expert Committee has great potential to play a role in the training mechanism, evaluation standards, team building of think tank talents, and guiding young people to engage in the maritime industry.
Finally, I would like to make a few suggestions and hopes for the construction of a Chinese maritime think tank.
Firstly, we must grasp the correct direction. Focusing closely on the national development strategy, we will conduct in-depth research on the medium and long-term development plans, propose research directions for think tanks that are in line with our own features, focus on analyzing and judging the macro situation at home and abroad, and seize the opportunity to make adjustments and supplements. Secondly, we must adhere to a problem oriented approach and reflecting the voice of the grassroots. In particular, the sudden attack of the COVID-19 has brought another shock to the originally depressed shipping industry. How to turn crisis into opportunity and seek opportunities in crisis, and better leverage the positive role of the shipping industry in the domestic and international dual circulation pattern, is a topic that needs in-depth research by experts and scholars in nautical think tanks now. We need to conduct in-depth research at the grassroots level and propose solutions and suggestions that can effectively solve grassroots problems. Thirdly, we should open the door for research and pay attention to learning and learning from the experience of other think tanks. At present, there are think tanks in various fields, with many vertical and horizontal think tanks in various disciplines from top to bottom, such as the think tank alliance of the Ministry of Transport. While researching their own development, it is recommended that the think tanks should learn from various achievements and make use of them, as well as summarizing the development path of think tanks with nautical characteristics, which may become a shortcut for the rapid development of nautical think tanks.
Speech by He Jianzhong at the Inaugura Conference of Nautical Think Tank of China
Dear Minister Sheng Lin, senior leaders, guests, experts, and comrades:
Good morning! Firstly, on behalf of the CIN, I would like to give warm welcome to all guests, experts, and comrades. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone for their long-term care and support for the work of the CIN and the development of the maritime industry!
Just now, Minister Sheng Lin raised earnest expectations for the construction of Nautical Think Tank of China, and the comrades in competent department also provided guiding opinions. Now, I will mainly focus on three aspects: the reason for establishing think tanks, the scope of think tanks, and the way to promote the construction.
Firstly, the significance of establishing the Nautical Think Tank of China
First of all, it is to better serve the implementation of national strategies. In last September, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued the "Outline for Building a strong Transportation Country ", which proposed the goals, requirements, and main tasks of "1.2.3.4.5.9". President Xi Jinping repeatedly declares to build a strong marine country and a strong shipping country, to implement the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, as well as the instructions of Secretary Xi Jingping. The think tank should gather industry consensus and provide opinions and suggestions and effectively promote the construction of transportation and shipping power.
Secondly it should effectively promote the transformation, upgrading, and high-quality development of the shipping industry in the post pandemic era. The COVID-19 is changing and will continue to change the operation and operation mode of shipping. In the post epidemic era, the shipping industry will be confronted with more new changes, problems and business types. How to cultivate new opportunities in the crisis and start a new situation in the great changes is a question. We should adapt to the "dual circulation" development paradigm, adjust the transportation structure and utilize modern information technology to promote industrial innovation. The Nautical Think Tanks should research the development direction of business formats, propose public policy recommendations, promote the transformation and upgrading of scientific and technological achievements, and effectively promote the transformation and upgrading of the shipping industry.
Third it should effectively promote the construction of the "Double First Class" Institute. The Chinese Association for Science and Technology regards the CIN as the first tier team to create world-class institutes and academic journals. We are both under pressure and constantly nurturing new motivation. At present, we are formulating a new "Action Plan for the Creation of" Double First Class "by the CIN" in accordance with the overall requirements of the CAST, which has identified the goals, requirements and main tasks of "1.2.3.4.5". Among them, "3" is one of the three well-known brands, which is to create an authoritative think tank brand with international influence. This is also an important work goal of this council.
Secondly, the main content of the Nautical Think Tank of China.
Overall positioning:
Firstly we should adhere to a problem-oriented approach. Through extensive contact with member units and individual members, timely understanding of the problems faced, through the analysis of changes in the industry's internal and external environmental situation, accurate research and development trends in the industry and other issues, through a variety of ways, the nautical think tank will be the first to form a "problem bank" .
Secondly, we should adhere to the construction model of "small focus, large scope". As a small research center, the CIN should rely more on internal and external resources of the Institute to form an "open source bank" with distinct characteristics, outstanding technological characteristics, and shared resources.
Thirdly, we should adhere to the principle of service-oriented, and serve the national strategies, the innovation of navigation technology and the growth and development of members parties. The problems analyzed will be transformed into research projects and the results of research will be transformed into policy and technological effects so as to form an "achievement bank".
Main tasks:
The first one is the strategic issue, which is basic, major and forward-looking of navigation, to formulate development plans for the country, the industry and related enterprises, and to put forward advice and help construction.
The second is the research on public policies for the development of shipping industry, especially the feasible research program for the "new infrastructure" investment in the shipping industry in the post-epidemic era, the "double cycle" transformation and development, the adjustment of industry tax and fee policies, and the support for maritime technology innovation.
The third is the research on the modernization of shipping governance system and governance capacity. In particular, we will conduct academic research on the new standards, norms, models and mechanisms facing the integration and development of modern information technology and traditional shipping elements, strengthen international cooperation, make good use of the resources of taking over the presidency of the International Shipping Federation next year, and deepen exchanges and cooperation with relevant international organizations. In conclusion, we will gather industry consensus through various forms, reflect industry demands, and promote its development.
The fourth is to carry out research on the training methods and approaches of shipping talents. We will focus on the systematic research on the construction of crew and the training of young talents in the field of nautical science and technology.
Fifth, the study on the inheritance of maritime culture and the spirit of navigation in the new era. Through the extensive publicity and communication of cultural carriers such as maritime history, maritime transport history, Chinese ship spectrum and navigation museum, the navigation spirit of the new era is studied and proposed, and the excellent navigation culture is promoted by various forms such as new media.
Ⅲ.The specific path and measures for the construction of China's nautical think tank
First, give full play to the guiding role of the Advisory Expert Committee of think tanks. Major research topics should be fully consulted on the opinions and suggestions of senior leaders and experts.
The second is to give full play to the supporting role of professional committees and expert committees of the institute. The institute has 22 professional committees, and the newly formed expert committee involves more than 100 experts in eight fields, which are the backbone of the nautical think tank. We must make good use of this resource.
Third, establish an academic think tank research mechanism. We will arrange special researchers of think tanks to form a regular backbone team of think tanks; carry out cooperation with member units and local institutes’ think tanks; explore and deepen exchanges and cooperation with the Asian Institute of Navigation, the International Federation of Navigation and relevant international organizations, and build a think tank alliance.
Fourth, establish China's nautical think tank results release platform With the "Suggestions of Nautical Think Tank in China" as the carrier, the think tank research results are released from time to time, and the research results are promoted through various forms through various channels such as the journal of the institute.
Fifth, explore funding channels and incentive mechanisms for new think tanks. In accordance with the relevant regulations and requirements of the State, the Nautical Think Tank Fund has been established to fund research on key topics and give appropriate incentives to the achievements of think tank experts.
In short, the establishment of nautical think tank requires the joint efforts of all member units, the enthusiastic participation of seafarers, and the strong support of all sectors of institute. Let us join hands and forge ahead, strive to implement the spirit of the General Secretary Xi's instruction that "an economic power must be a maritime power and a shipping power", and make new and greater contributions to the high-quality development of navigation in the new era!
Thank you!
Lin Runhua, Vice Minister of Academic Department of China Association for Science and Technology, Delivered A Speech
Distinguished Chairman He Jianzhong, distinguished leaders and experts:
Good morning, everyone! It is a great pleasure to attend today's inaugural conference of the China Nautical Think Tank. Just now, Chairman He and Minister Li inaugurated the Nautical Think Tank. This is indeed a very meaningful event. The purpose of my participation is to congratulate the establishment of the nautical think tank on behalf of the Academic Department of the Chinese Association for Science and Technology! The second is to express firm support for the Institute to carry out the think tank work.
China Institute of Navigation is a national institute affiliated to China Association for Science and Technology, and it is a institute with industry characteristics in the project of building a "world-class institute" supported by China Association for Science and Technology. In recent years, the Institute has made remarkable progress in self-construction, membership development, academic exchanges, scientific popularization and international contacts. Today, the founding conference of Nautical Think Tank is held, marking another step forward for the China Institute of Navigation in improving the governance system, enhancing the governance level, giving play to the role of a scientific community platform, and building a world-class institute.
The Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee proposed to promote the modernization the country's governance system and capacity. How to improve the governance system, how to improve the governance capacity, the choice and optimization of directions, paths and measures are the places where think tanks can make great achievements. The China Association for Science and Technology is the bridge and link among people's organizations, the Party and the government and the scientific and technological workers under the leadership of the CPC. In the new historical period, the Association for Science and Technology has taken the construction of international high-end science and technology think tanks, the construction of world-class academics and the creation of inclusive and innovative science popularization as an important direction and goal to promote the development of national societies, that is, to reshape the new pattern of the development of societies with the three-wheel drive of academics, think tanks and popularization of science. In recent years, the China Association for Science and Technology and the national institutes have insisted on building an open, pivotal and platform-like think tank system, steadily promoted the construction of high-level science and technology think tanks, formed a number of high-quality think tank achievements, actively supported the national science and technology decision-making and consultation system, and had a wide impact on the science and technology industry and the whole society. In particular, the recent think tank suggestions made by the national institutes and scientific and technological workers around major scientific issues and engineering and technological problems have been highly recognized by the central leadership and relevant departments, and have strongly supported the 14th Five-Year Plan and the medium- and long-term strategic planning for science and technology.
But at the same time, we must also be aware that the work of the think tank still faces many challenges, and its development is faced with the problem that it is neither large nor strong enough. In my opinion, to do a good job in the work of the think tank of the institute, the first is to give full play to the academic advantages of the institute and highlight the disciplinary characteristics of the think tank. Without first-class academics, it is difficult to have first-class think tanks, and without cutting-edge academic research, it is difficult to have forward-looking think tank proposals. Second, it is necessary to give full play to the organizational advantages of the institute, actively organize and gather a team of professional talents, and form a characteristic think tank. After all, a first-class expert team is an important guarantee for a first-class think tank. Third, the work of think tanks should address major national needs and problems. It is possible to make a good think tank by putting forward major scientific problems and engineering and technical problems, and finding solutions and putting forward professional policy suggestions. Fourth, we should pay attention to the integration and mutual promotion of academics, think tanks and science popularization. We need to integrate academic issues into think tanks, popularize academic issues, support the scientific decision-making of the Party and the government, support the improvement of the scientific quality of the people, and support the construction and growth of the talent team. Fifth, we should strengthen international cooperation in the work of think tanks, because many maritime and maritime issues concern the whole world, and international cooperation is extremely important.
Today, Nautical Think Tank brings together representative senior experts from all sides to set up the management committee and advisory committee, and will continue to improve the think tank system and working mechanism in the future. We believe that under the leadership of Chairman He Jianzhong, Nautical Think Tank can give full play to its own advantages and industry characteristics, provide more research results, and make greater contributions to the 14th Five-Year Plan, industrial science and technology development, and the construction of China's new science and technology think tanks. Thank you!
Speech by Sun Wenjian, Deputy Director of Policy Research Office, Ministry of Transportation
Dear Leaders and experts,
Good morning! The establishment of Nautical Think Tank in China is a great event in the construction of soft power in the maritime industry. First of all, on behalf of the Policy Research Office of the Ministry of Transport, I would like to extend warm congratulations on the establishment of the Nautical Think Tank! I would like to extend my warm welcome and heartfelt thanks to all the leaders, experts and scholars.
Over the years, the Party Group of the Ministry has attached great importance to the construction of new think tanks. In order to implement the decision-making and deployment of the Party Central Committee and The State Council, the Ministry issued the "Implementation Opinions on Promoting the Development of New Transportation think Tanks" in February 2018, and has done a lot of solid and effective work in the top-level design and specific practice. While promoting the transformation and development of the think tanks to new type of think tanks, we insist on opening up to receive wisdom and open the think tanks, promoting the healthy development of industry think tanks through reform and innovation. As the main carrier and effective means to promote the construction of new think tanks in the industry, the Transportation New Think Tank Alliance was successfully established in January 2020, gathering a team of hundreds of think tank researchers from 33 units covering ten fields such as iron, public, water, civil, postal, economy and technology, comprehensive transportation, urban transportation, traffic governance, and international cooperation, which is a valuable intellectual resource for the transportation industry.
In the past six months, the construction of the Transportation Think Tank Alliance has been effective, and the member units have been working together and sharing, and the nine core platforms of the transportation think tank advice, special report, observation, forum, celebrity, salon, voice, book series, and lecture hall, as well as the three teams of the editorial group, celebrity group, and lecturer group have been expanding. In terms of decision-making and consultation, the internal reference compiled this year, five issues recommended to the relevant departments of the Party Central Committee received important instructions from General Secretary Xi Jinping, and eight issues received positive instructions from the Ministry leadership. In terms of cooperation and communication, we have made efforts to overcome the impact of the epidemic and held five think tank salon activities in online form, successfully creating a new mode of debate and exchange, and providing policy for industry governance. In terms of communication and display, we strengthened media voices, opened think tank columns, and pushed 64 think tank views to the society in total, one of which was reprinted by the Learning Power platform, further expanding the social influence of the Alliance.
Looking to the future, Nautical Think Tanks will certainly have great prospects. The General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that "a strong economic country must be a strong maritime country and a strong shipping country" and "for the economy to develop and the country to be strong, transportation, especially shipping, must first be strong". The current international political and economic situation is complex and severe, from the "six stability" and "six protection" put forward by the Party Central Committee, to accelerate the formation of to the main domestic circulation, domestic and international double circulation to promote each other's new development pattern , the maritime industry occupies an extremely important link, and many deep-seated problems it faces also urgently need think tanks to answer. It should be said that the establishment of the China Maritime Think Tank is very timely and necessary, is an effective way to integrate industry research resources and form a wisdom synergy, and also adds an important force to the transportation think tank. As the competent department of the think tank of the Ministry, the Political Research Office will fully support the work of China Navigation Think Tank, and hope that China Navigation Think Tank will strengthen the communication and cooperation with the Alliance, enhance the research synergy, and jointly contribute to accelerate the construction of a strong transportation country.
I wish all of you good health and everything goes well in your work! Also, I wish this conference a complete success! Thank you very much.
Integrating into Double Cycle and Opening a New Avenue while Working for Change - Opportunities, Challenges and Measures for the Development of Shipping Industry in the Post-epidemic Era
At present, the COVID-19 epidemic in China has entered a phase of regular prevention and control, with the target of "preventing both imported cases and domestic resurgences", and the resumption of work and leisure activities in various places has been carried out in order. In contrast to China, the COVID-19 epidemic abroad is still at a high plateau of 300,000 new cases per day, and the impact of the epidemic on the global value chain, supply chain and industrial chain is still ongoing, and there is still uncertainty in the global economy.
Facing the complex international situation, the inaugural meeting of China Maritime Think Tank and the seminar on the opportunities and challenges of shipping industry development in the post-epidemic era were held in Beijing on August 25, 2020. Based on "Opportunities and Challenges of Shipping Industry Development in Post-epidemic Era", Xu Zuyuan, former Vice Minister of Ministry of Transport, Fei Weijun, President of Water Transport Scientific Research Institute of Ministry of Transport, Sun Yuqing, President of Dalian Maritime University, Huang Youfang, former President of Shanghai Maritime University, Huang Xiaowen, Vice General Manager of COSCO Shipping Group and other experts proposed speeches on the topic of opportunities, challenges and measures for shipping industry development, focused on the new development pattern of domestic and international double cycle, and jointly assessed the development of shipping industry under the regular epidemic prevention and control. The main theme of the shipping industry in the post-epidemic era is to fully integrate into the "new development pattern featuring double cycle, in which domestic and overseas markets reinforce each other, with the domestic market as the mainstay".
Review the development of the shipping industry, before the reform and opening up, China's economy was basically based on internal circulation, and water transport had played an important role in the internal circulation of domestic trade transport. Since the reform and opening up, water transport has achieved interconnected development of domestic and foreign trade under the impetus of domestic and foreign trade transport demand, and gradually showed obvious foreign trade-oriented feature. According to the new development pattern, the comparative advantage of water transport will be further developed, forming an industrial chain and supply chain supporting the domestic circulation which is driven by domestic trade and promoted by domestic and foreign trade.
I. Opportunities for the shipping industry
1.Opportunities of China's changing economic landscape
Since the reform and opening up, China has been a mainly export-oriented economy, and mainly laid out the economic activities in coastal area, with the related transportation infrastructure also more laid out in coastal area. With the new pattern of "domestic circulation as the mainstay" gradually formed, the construction of transportation infrastructure in the central and western regions as the pioneering resources to guide the adjustment of China's regional pattern. This will bring opportunities to the development of inland waterway shipping industry. At the same time, the Coastal thoroughfare guided by the new pattern of "domestic circulation as the mainstay” will also assume more important tasks of north-south material interchange, which will ensure that the domestic waterway industry will have rapid development under such an opportunity.
2.Opportunities brought by the changing scenario of shipping industry
The obvious trend of regular epidemic prevention and control gives rise to a new scenario of shipping industry development. Firstly, waterway traffic equipment has become autonomous, which can reduce crew labor intensity, reduce ship manning and improve ship operation safety; secondly, remote business operation is adopted. New modes such as shipping business online processing, remote booking, mobile payment, paperless electronic document, contactless processing will become more and more popular; thirdly, the system function is resilient. Digital transportation provides waterway traffic flow, equipment and system status information, characteristic elements and other data for traffic supervision, organization and operation to enhance the industry development resilience.
3.Opportunities brought by digital economy and new infrastructure
A "digital complex" composed of Big data, AI, mobile Internet, cloud computing, blockchain and a series of digital technology will empower the development of the shipping industry. 5G combined with big data, AI and other related technologies drives many industries, laying the foundation for digital transformation in many areas. China's 5G base station construction progressed beyond expectations, with the cumulative number of terminal connections reaching 88 million by the end of July. The digital economy and new infrastructure will comprehensively improve the service efficiency of the shipping industry. For example, COSCO Shipping, China Mobile and Dongfeng jointly launched China's first 5G full-scene application smart port at Xiamen Ocean Terminal, which not only realized the automatic driving of container trucks through 5G technology, but also applied 5G technology to specific business scenarios such as port machine remote control, intelligent cargo handling and intelligent security, realizing the intellectual empowerment of the whole port scenario.
II. Challenges for the shipping industry
1. Obvious trend of shrinking international demand
Total global trade is shrinking rapidly. According to statistics of WTO, in the first quarter of this year, the volume of international trade in goods fell by 3% year-on-year; in the second quarter, it fell sharply to negative 18.5% or so; total trade volume is expected to shrink by 13% to 32% for the year, and is expected to rebound to positive 5% in 2021. According to statistics of Clarkson, turnover of maritime transport fell by 7.8% year-on-year from January to July this year, and the number of ships calling at global ocean-going cargo ports decreased by 9.6% year-on-year. The epidemic has caused global shipping demand to shrink faster than transport capacity in 2020. Global seaborne turnover is expected to decline by 4.9% to 56.8 trillion ton-nautical miles, with containerized cargo down by 7.7% and oil products and dry bulk down by 4.1%. Over the past 10 years, world seaborne trade has grown at an average annual rate of 3.5%, and will show negative growth in 2020, casting a shadow over the development of the shipping industry.
2. Challenges of "localization" and "short chain” met by the industry chain
The epidemic prompted more countries to realize the security problems caused by the single and long industrial chain. The layout of supply chains in Europe, America, Japan and other countries and regions no longer consider market and economic factors as before, but are more influenced by political factors, and also consider the stability of supply chains. The trend of "localization" and "short chain" is to avoid the security risks brought by long industrial chains and supply chains, and to promote the development of the global supply chain system in the direction of diversification and decentralization. For example, the United States will promote the transfer of manufacturing to Mexico, Brazil and other countries; Germany, France and Britain to Eastern Europe and Turkey and other countries. This will have an impact on total transportation demand as well as transportation patterns.
3. Challenges for the upgrading of domestic shipping industry
To have a smooth domestic circulation, the shipping industry needs to be deeply integrated into the comprehensive transportation system, and play synergistic effect with other modes of transportation to jointly build a green, safe, convenient, efficient and economic comprehensive transportation system. From the development degree of different transportation modes, highway, high-speed railroad and other transportation modes are given priority to rapid development, while the development of inland waterway shipping is relatively slow and backward, which is the weakest link of comprehensive transportation system. The completion of other modes of transportation and the formation of their network have imposed restrictions on further channel upgrading and improved layout of the network for inland water transportation, such as constraints of highway and railroad bridge clearance. At present, there are some practical problems in China's inland water transportation, such as low proportion of high-grade waterway, poor connectivity and backward technical level. To solve these problems, it is necessary to overcome institutional and mechanical barriers, and it also requires a higher investment intensity to achieve. Poor systemic development of coastal transport prevents the potential of large channels from functioning effectively, and the synergistic linkage between domestic shipping and international shipping is not enough. The multimodal transport system of domestic goods by water in synergy with other modes of transport has not yet been formed.
III. Measures
1. Build early warning and emergency response mechanism for shipping industry
In line with regular epidemic prevention and control, we should establish an intelligent early warning mechanism for waterway transportation, and strengthen the capacity building and training exercises for the response and disposal of major epidemics in waterway transportation. We should build integrated suppression and control technology for ship design, real-time monitoring, risk assessment and emergency response, and put the concept of life-cycle management through all aspects of the whole process of ship design, construction and management. We should also establish epidemic identification and assessment system, design negative pressure treatment cabin, isolation cabin sewage system and air conditioning filtration system. With the help of advanced network communication, AI, data sensing and other technologies as supplementary artificial intelligent verification of ship safety information, we will build a comprehensive inspection platform for ship safety through the fusion of multi-source inspection data, and provide a new path for implementing accurate supervision. We will build a non-contact inspection program with functions such as interactive ship safety information collection system, ship safety remote intelligent verification system, ship safety multi-source data fusion diagnosis system and ship full-cycle safety state intelligent identification and auxiliary supervision system.
2. Build a high-grade inland waterways network to support new development pattern
To have a smooth domestic circulation, it is necessary to upgrade and optimize the network of high-grade inland waterways. it is recommended to accelerate the construction of high-level inland waterway, give full play to the comparative advantages of inland waterway navigation, adjust the transport structure, accelerate the implementation of the canal rejuvenation project, river connection project, river-sea link project, gate dam renavigation project, and boundary river upgrading project, and promote the transformation and upgrading of inland waterway navigation and integrate it into the modern comprehensive transport system. In view of this, here are suggestions: firstly we should unify our thinking, raise awareness to put the inland waterway revival strategy in a more prominent position, and enhance the strategic position of inland waterways, especially high-grade waterway in the comprehensive utilization of water resources; secondly we should increase the investment of the central financial budget to provide financial guarantee for the construction of inland waterways of high grade; thirdly, we should carry out the preliminary work on major projects related to the construction of high-grade waterways to accelerate the construction.
3.Smooth coastal waterway to better support the new development pattern
The coastal thoroughfare runs through the developed coastal areas of China, which can connect with inland areas through Yangtze River and Xijiang River, and also connect with foreign countries through coastal ports. The thoroughfare, with large capacity, low cost, safety and reliability, greenness, as well as prominent comparative advantage in dealing with emergencies, has always been a major channel for domestic cargo transportation and a connecting belt for foreign trade transportation. Smooth channel, sufficient capacity and low cost can help promote the domestic circulation to decrease cost and increase benefit. Suggestions are: firstly the coastal thoroughfare should be incorporated into the main body of the National Guideline on Developing Comprehensive Transport Network (2021-2050), and its legal status and functional positioning should be clarified; secondly a more secure and reliable coastal transport system for domestic coal, oil, grain and other key materials should be constructed, and a coastal container transport system with higher service level should be built; third, a smooth port strategy should be implemented, through optimizing the layout of ports, strengthening internal and external linkages, strengthening sea-rail intermodal transport and upgrading the level of port intelligence, to serve both smooth domestic supply chains and smooth international supply chains.
4. Build a new system of domestic trade container transport to support the domestic circulation
Domestic trade container, with the comparative advantages of large capacity, low cost, stability and reliability and greenness, can effectively improve logistics efficiency and reduce logistics costs. Here are suggestions. Firstly we should carry out the system planning and design of Series 2 container transport for domestic trade goods, study and formulate relevant standards and norms for Series 2 container multimodal transport, and promote domestic trade container transport to be included in the multimodal transport system; secondly we should organize and develop domestic trade container ship type and planning to construct specialized terminals, and vigorously promote the river and coastal new domestic trade container transport; thirdly we should promote close connection of domestic trade container to service market so as to improve "bulk to set" of domestic cargo transport, cold chain container transport and docking service e-commerce express box system; lastly we should promote the "no means of transport carrier" based on the construction of multimodal transport system to build an institutional bridge connecting different modes of transport.
5. Create an important strategic node into the international circulation
The new development pattern requires improving the development quality of China's maritime industry, improving the international competitiveness of China's maritime enterprises, participating more deeply in the international circulation, and gaining the dominant right of international logistics supply. Suggestions are: first of all, we should actively take advantage of China's overseas infrastructure, build overseas ports and sea and land transportation hubs, explore the potential of economic and trade cooperation and maritime demand among countries along the "Belt and Road" from the dual dimensions of system and facilities, and rely on the “Belt and Road" port nodes. We will continue to develop international shipping business and increase the coverage of maritime business to countries along the Maritime Silk Road; secondly, we should seize the opportunity of building Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to build a nationwide surface transport hub. In building the Greater Bay Area, we should focus on the connection between sea and land transport, fully use the "sea-rail transportation" to realize the seamless connection between the sea transport of the ports in the Greater Bay Area and the land transport including the Hong Kong high-speed rail, and shape the promotion point of symbiotic development of domestic and foreign economies. Finally, aided by Hainan's opening-up policy dividend period, we will create a new foreign connection center point of the maritime industry. In terms of opening up to the outside world, we will further reduce the negative list of foreign investment access in Hainan, fully lift the restrictions on foreign investment in international maritime transportation and auxiliary industries, change matters such as international container transportation, general cargo ship transport business and NVOCC business from approval to filing, fully release the vitality of the international maritime service market, guide multinational maritime enterprises to relocate and adjust their business centers to Hainan, and make full use of the regional policy advantages to create new cross-border business centers.
CIN Think Tank Suggestion Writing Group: Xie Xie, Liu Ying
Tel: 010-65299836 Fax: 010-65299861 Email: liuying@cinnet.cn