On March 26, Shanghai Municipal Transport and Port Authority held the "Forum on Shipping Brokerage Policies and Standardized Management". Participants included government officials such as Zhang Shouguo, Deputy Director of the Department of Water Transport under the Ministry of Transport of the People's Republic of China, Li Hongyin, Division Chief of International Shipping Division, Gao Haiyun, Deputy Division Chief of International Shipping Division, Zhu Jianhua, Deputy Director of Shanghai Municipal Transport and Port Authority, and Jin Wei, Chief of the General Office of Shanghai Municipal Transport and Port Authority; as well as scholars of Shanghai Maritime University (SMU) and members of the Shanghai Shipbrokers Association under SISI. Through lively discussion on shipping brokerage policies and standardized management, many senior figures in shipping brokerage industry frankly exchanged the opinions and information of the industry.
According to Ji Wenyuan, Chairman of Seamaster Chartering Limited, "Shanghai acts as an international shipping center where various trading activities of the international shipping business gather. However, the completion of those activities relies mainly on international shipping brokers in this area. The key to the construction of Shanghai International Shipping Center lies therefore in vigorously developing Shanghai international shipping brokerage industry, genuinely leading the trends of the international shipping market, and promoting global shipping industry based on China's international shipping needs."

As for the cultivation and training of high-end shipping brokers, Liu Xunliang, Secretary-General of the Shanghai Shipbrokers Association, pointed out: "There is no lack of excellent shipping brokers in Shanghai; some have already cut a striking figure in the international shipping market. Seamaster Chartering Limited and Arrow Asia Shipbrokers Ltd. present here are both great examples enjoying considerable reputes in the industry. Some members of the Freight Indices and Futures Committee (FIFC) at the London-based Baltic Exchange Baltic Exchange are China's brokerage enterprises from Shanghai. JoinOcean, an emerging local enterprise, is particularly active in Asia's small- and medium-sized charter market, with a surprisingly large volume of chartering turnover. However, the problem rests with pertinent authorities. They sigh with regret about the lack of brokerage talents on the one hand, while prohibiting the registration of shipping brokers, or putting forward impractical registration requirements on the other (e.g., treating shipping brokers as real estate brokers). In order to adapt to such a legal environment, the international shipping brokers have to keep soliciting business by setting up offices inside China but closing deals outside China. In that way, Chinese shipping brokers will never become the government’s concern."

The Forum organized a debate on whether an admittance system is necessary for shipping brokers. Di Qing, Executive Director of Arrow Asia, said that there is no single country in this world that places admittance requirements on shipping brokers. The industry does not involve protection of consumer rights and interests, protection of vulnerable groups, or social justice; nor will it cause any casualty or public safety hazards. The economic strength of a client is often ten times or tens of times greater than a broker's, so the client will not file a petition to any Administration for Industry & Commerce or Consumers' Association against any deception. Liu Xunliang stated that the Shanghai Shipbrokers Association does not oppose the establishment of a reasonable and simple admittance system, but expects a professional government agency to serve the approval and regulatory function based on the precedent of insurance brokers.

Among others, SMU Professor Hu Zhengliang and Professor Yao Hongxiu, as well as Deputy Secretary-General Li Gang of SISI, gave a few words of advice on vigorously promoting the development of shipping brokerage business in Shanghai, providing good policies and regulatory environment with reference to international practices, and driving high-end shipping brokerage enterprises to gather in Shanghai, etc. The Shanghai Shipbrokers Association also set forth four principled suggestions: (1) in connection with the admittance system, international shipping brokers and domestic shipping brokers shall be treated differently; (2) the admittance system for international shipping brokers shall be simplified, or may be evolved into recording system, with shipbroker registration categories added as soon as possible; (3) the rights and interests of the clients shall be duly protected via a professional liability insurance system; (4) relevant credit files as well as regulatory, educational and training mechanisms shall be established through shipping brokers’ associations.

All participants expressed their expectations for more exchanges and discussions on promoting the development of shipping brokerage industry in the future.