Ma Shuo, Director of the Expert Committee of Shanghai International Shipping Institute (SISI), Director of SISI Port Development Institute, Professor and Vice President of World Maritime University, and Distinguished Professor of Shanghai Institutions of Higher Learning (Oriental Scholar), recently published his article entitled “What International Shipping Center should Shanghai Become” on Jiefang Daily. With rich experience in international maritime practices, he put forth suggestions for the construction of Shanghai International Shipping Center.

Mr. Ma Shuo states in his article that an “International Shipping Center” shall contain three meanings. “International” refers to the sources of business, “Shipping” the specific content of business, and “Center” the scale or concentration degree of business. Based on this, he points out that an international shipping center refers to any cities enjoying worldwide competitiveness in service-oriented and knowledge-based shipping business featuring international mobility, and holding larger market share and top international ranking in these fields.

He believes that Shanghai needs a complete strategy for developing into an international shipping center. The strategy should be based on two points, namely, a profound knowledge of the international shipping industry and future development orientation, and a full understanding of the comparative advantages and disadvantages of Shanghai itself. Such a strategy will help create an environment truly necessary for the development of an international shipping center, and effectively guide and promote the transformation and upgrading of the shipping center.