The inaugural meeting for the Global Shipping Think Tank Alliance was convened at the Ocean Hotel of Shanghai on Dec 13. Xu Zuyuan, maritime ambassador of International Maritime Organization (IMO), Yi Jiyong, deputy director-general of the Water Transportation Bureau under the Ministry of Transport,  Zhang Lin, deputy director of Shanghai Municipal Commission of Transport, Yuan Quan, deputy chief of Hongkou District, Shanghai and other leaders were present at the meeting. The meeting was sponsored by Shanghai International Shipping Institute, co-organized by Korea Maritime Institute (KMI), and Yu Shicheng, director of Shanghai International Shipping Institute, chaired the meeting.

The Global Shipping Think Tank Alliance is initiated by Shanghai International Shipping Institute, and founded by world-renowned shipping think tanks and research institutes under the joint support from the Waterborne Transport Bureau under the Ministry of Transport of China, Shanghai Municipal Commission of Transport and Shanghai Maritime University. The alliance aims to establish a platform for exchanges and cooperation between shipping think tanks in various countries to boost the healthy development of global shipping and port industries.

The world economy has been sluggish since the outbreak of global financial crisis in 2008. A series of major events including the refugee crisis in Europe, Brexit, and the new U.S. president all implied the rise of trade protectionism and the return of deglobalization. Against such a background, trade frictions among countries may grow and shipping, as a global industry, will stand in the breach. The continuous depression of the international shipping market in recent years has made shipping practitioners miserable. Trade protectionism policies or trade friction will inevitably cast the shipping market into an abyss of recession. At the same time, the international rules and management are always changing. In the face of the new era, new challenges and new rules, stand-alone business operation will cripple the strength and various parties have no other choices but to join hands for win-win development. Scientific decisions are essential both for the government to formulate port and shipping policies and for port and shipping enterprises to seek considerable development. Shipping think tank is an organization dedicated to providing decision-making support. The establishment of the Global Shipping Think Tank Alliance will pool together the intelligence support from different countries and regions to stay dedicated to global shipping decision-making field, which facilitates the amplification of shipping intelligence support power.

The first members of the Global Shipping Think Tank Alliance include 13 think tank organizations from nine countries and regions such as China, Singapore, Germany, USA, South Korea, Japan, Italy, Sweden, and Hong Kong (China). According to the Charter of the alliance, a president and a secretariat will be set up for the alliance. Shanghai International Shipping Institute is the initiator of the alliance, so the first president for the alliance is held by Prof. Huang Youfang, president of Shanghai Maritime University which Shanghai International Shipping Institute is affiliated to. The secretary-general post is held by Prof. Zhen Hong, secretary-general of Shanghai International Shipping Institute. The executive vice secretary-general post is held by Prof. Yin Ming, deputy secretary general of Shanghai International Shipping Institute, and the deputy secretary general post is held by Dr. Zhao Nan, assistant to the secretary general of Shanghai International Shipping Institute. After establishment, the Global Shipping Think Tank Alliance will play its roles in sharing research results, promoting discussions on research hotspots, enhancing inter-region exchanges and cooperation, jointly looking for consulting and research markets, jointly forming proposals that conform to the shipping development and submitting the proposals to international organizations and competent governmental departments.

Figure 1 A group photo of the Global Shipping Think Tank Alliance meeting

Figure 2 A full view of the Global Shipping Think Tank Alliance meeting

Figure 3 Xu Zuyuan, maritime ambassador of International Maritime Organization (IMO), and Yang Chang Ho, dean of Korea Maritime Institute (KMI), unveil the nameplate of the Global Shipping Think Tank Alliance

 

                                               Figure 4 Experts sign cooperation agreement