On October 14, 2021, the 4th Sino-European States International Law of the Sea Symposium, jointly sponsored by China Ocean Development Foundation, China Institute for Marine Affairs, Ministry of Natural Resources and School of Law, Xiamen University opened online. The theme of this symposium is "the development of marine science and technology and the law of the sea". More than 200 experts and scholars from China, Germany, France, South Africa, Italy, Belgium, Sweden, Switzerland and other countries, as well as Africa, ASEAN, Latin America and other regions attended the meeting. The opening ceremony was presided over by Yubing Shi, vice president of South China Sea Institute, Xiamen University. Xinchun Pan, vice president and Secretary General of China Ocean Development Foundation, Haiwen Zhang, director of Institute for Marine Affairs, Ministry of Natural Resources, and Xiaoqin Zhu, vice president of School of Law, Xiamen University, attended the meeting and delivered a speech online.

the Scene of the 4th Sino-European States International Law of the Sea Symposium

On behalf of the China Ocean Development Foundation, Xinchun Pan extended a warm welcome to the leaders, experts and scholars of Sino - European marine legal community who participated in this symposium. He said that the Sino-European States International Law of the Sea Symposium has been held three times. Experts and scholars from the Sino-European maritime legal community have been gathering, exchanging and deepening around all aspects of the international law of the sea, achieving fruitful results, reaching consensus, promoting cooperation and driving the construction of relevant systems of global marine governance. He suggested that Sino-European marine legal experts and scholars should attach great importance to the issues of sustainable economic and social development and global climate change of universal concern, take the strategic vision of a maritime community with a shared future, stand at the height of global marine governance, and actively promote the construction and improvement of global, regional and national marine legal systems with our wisdom and actions, so as to contribute to promoting sustainable economic and social development and solving the problem of global climate change. He stressed that since the establishment with the approval of the State Council in 2015, the China Ocean Development Foundation has established eight major engineering projects (including more than 100 sub-projects) under the guidance of Xi Jinping thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era, to boost the implementation of national strategies such as the construction of marine power, marine ecological civilization and "Belt and Road", the establishment of a blue partnership and deep participation in global marine governance. These eight major projects are being carried out in an all-round way, such as the maritime Silk Road Project of "promoting marine spatial planning and contributing to the development of blue economy". Cooperation agreements have been signed with 18 Maritime Silk Road countries and the Pacific island countries development forum, and relevant work is being advanced in an orderly manner. China Ocean Development Foundation welcomes Sino-European marine legal experts and scholars to participate in the above projects, and it is also willing to become a partner of Sino-European marine legal experts and scholars in the research of major marine issues.