North Bund Forum in Shanghai calls for greater collaboration across int'l shipping sector

The 2024 North Bund Forum opened in Shanghai on Tuesday, bringing together 150 representatives from leading global maritime and aviation enterprises and institutions to explore the future trajectory of the industry and strengthen collaboration across the international shipping sector.

Themed "Digital, Smart, and Green: Co-creating a New Ecosystem of Global Shipping and Aviation," the three-day event sought to lay out the future plans for the shipping industry, with numerous agreements being reached.

According to the Ministry of Transport, China possesses the most extensive shipping facilities and transports the majority of commodities by sea worldwide. It also ranks among the world's top countries in terms of its total merchant fleet size.

"China's shipping industry has distinct advantages, including a large-scale market, diverse application scenarios for technologies, and a complete industrial chain. China's shipping industry aims to break down some of the institutional barriers [in global shipping] so as to further implement the transportation revolution and promote high-quality development," said Liu Wei, party branch secretary under the Chinese Ministry of Transport.

During the opening ceremony, the Ministry of Transport and the Shanghai Municipal People's Government signed a memorandum of cooperation on building a global leading International shipping center. This agreement outlines joint initiatives in port construction, elevating shipping service capabilities, promoting sustainable and intelligent development within the shipping industry, enhancing the influence of the Shanghai International Shipping Center, and fortifying collaborative organizational support to collectively establish a preeminent global international shipping hub.

Shanghai's Mayor Gong Zheng highlighted the priorities of advancing the city's standing as a major shipping hub.

"The three major directions of transformation in shipping—digital, green, and smart—reflect the general trends and opportunities of our times. We will focus on enhancing the shipping industry's capacity to mobilize global resources and perfect the integration of three types of ports: harbor, airport, and cruise port, along with a rapid transportation system. This approach aims to address weaknesses in high-end shipping services and advance the transformation of the industry towards digitalization, smart solutions, and green practices," said Gong.

According to recent data, Shanghai Port handled over 39 million containers of twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in the first three quarters, an 8 percent year-on-year increase.

During the forum, the Shanghai Municipal Transportation Commission, the Hamburg Port Authority, the COSCO Shipping Lines company, and the Shanghai International Port group all signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on jointly building a green shipping corridor.

Additionally, 11 innovative results including the construction of an international aviation hub and a supply chain control tower were also announced at the forum.

North Bund Forum in Shanghai calls for greater collaboration across int'l shipping sector

The 7th China Aeronautical Science and Technology Conference (CASTC 2024) concluded on Wednesday in Chengdu City in southwest China's Sichuan Province after highlighting significant annual technological breakthroughs and addressing key issues in the sector.

The three-day annual conference, organized by the Chinese Society of Aeronautics and Astronautics (CSAA), unveiled four major technological breakthroughs in the aeronautical sector for 2024, covering advancements across various areas of the aviation industry.

In the field of aviation engines, China's independently developed AES100 turboshaft engine successfully completed its airworthiness test. In flight control, an aircraft featuring dual synthetic jets and active flow control was successfully developed. In the development of aviation engines, the country's first large-scale aviation engine 3D numerical simulation software, Taihang CAE, has successfully passed technical acceptance and evaluation. In the field of civil aircraft airworthiness certification, China's homegrown Y12F aircraft has obtained the type certificate from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

Meanwhile, 92 technological achievements were awarded the 2024 CSAA Science and Technology Awards at the conference, along with the top 10 key scientific and technological issues in the aviation sector for 2024.

"It (The conference) focuses particularly on critical and widely-used technologies that are urgently needed, cutting-edge technologies, modern engineering technologies, and revolutionary technologies. It also addresses interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral issues," said Yu Ce, an assistant secretary-general of the CSAA.

To effectively promote the development of the low-altitude economy industry, the CSAA also released a "2024 White Paper on Low-Altitude Economy Scenarios" during the conference.

The white paper outlined the top 100 low-altitude scenarios and provided detailed analyses of each scenario's application areas, key technologies, and typical cases, offering important references for the government and industry in the construction of the low-altitude economy.

China releases annual major technological breakthroughs in aeronautical sector