China and ASEAN Work Together to Promote Maritime Economic Cooperation

written by Wang Gongqing / translated by Gao Qianqian

China and ASEAN Work Together to Promote Maritime Economic Cooperation

written by Wang Gongqing / translated by Gao Qianqian

With the coming of “Year of China-ASEAN Maritime Cooperation” in 2015, maritime economy, maritime connectivity, maritime environment, disaster prevention and reduction, maritime safety and maritime culture etc. have become the focuses for China and ASEAN to enhance cooperation. According to a survey on the ranking of several Maritime Silk Road cooperation initiatives proposed by the authorities of China, the initiative on strengthening maritime economic cooperation and establishing maritime economic cooperation partnership is atop the list.

Against the backdrop of economic globalization and regional integration, ocean has increasingly become an important channel for the flow of economic resources among countries. The ancient Maritime Silk Road, which was opened in the Qin and Han dynasties, has always shouldered the responsibility of enhancing the political, economic and cultural exchanges between China and countries from Asia, Europe and Africa, making itself the artery of maritime resources circulation. Cities along the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, by making use of maritime connectivity, port city cooperation mechanism, as well as maritime economic cooperation, have finally formed the “Maritime Silk Road Economic Belt”, which has not only benefit China and ASEAN, but also radiate South Asia and Middle East.

Nevertheless, what advantages shall we have to carry out China-ASEAN maritime economic cooperation?

With rich resources and political support, China-ASEAN maritime economic cooperation is provided with new highlights. Being the start of the Maritime Silk Road, China’s Fujian province, Guangdong province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region etc. enjoy vast waters and have strength in developing maritime economy. Fujian, with its tradition and unique nature in deploying oceans, stands out in fishery and has advantage in aquaculture. The Beibu Gulf, with numerous ports, abounds in fishes. And Guangxi is striving to build itself into the “pilot zone for China-ASEAN maritime economic cooperation”. Guangdong, being a close neighbor separated by only a strip of water with the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam, enjoys advantageous geological location and rich accumulation of oil and gas in the South China Sea. It is also striving to be the“pilot zone for China-ASEAN maritime economic cooperation”.

Among the ASEAN countries, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia and the Philippines etc. have long coastlines. And Brunei boasts mild climate and uncontaminated seawater. Its superior marine resources have provided huge businessopportunities for fishing, breeding, marine products transportation, storage and processing, as well as seafood market development. Singapore, with its huge and competitive economy, is one of the oil refining centers and ocean engineering centers in the world, and one of the three international maritime arbitration centers. It also boasts complete maritime economy industry chains, with each chain constantly absorbing enterprises, showing a characteristic of coordinated development of upstream and downstream industries. In the aspect of maritime finance, it has mature capital market and favorable market environment, making itself one of the international maritime financial centers. Besides, the Singapore government provides financial supports for marine industries via maritime bidding agencies. sold to Taiwan (China). On October 20, 2014, Indonesian President Joko Widodo delivered an inaugural speech, in which he emphasized that the future of Indonesia lies in ocean, and it is imperative to rebuild the country into a maritime power.

On December 21, 2014, the Pearl River Fisheries Research Institute (PRFRI) of the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences invited some domestic experts to discuss the scientific and technological cooperation between China and ASEAN in maritime fishery. They carried out discussions on the cooperation in fishery and finally formed the framework of “General Idea of China-ASEAN Scientific and Technological Cooperation in Maritime Fishery” and co-wrote the “Plan on China-ASEAN Scientific and Technological Cooperation in Maritime Fishery”.

China-ASEAN maritime economic cooperation has sound foundations, which provides a basic guarantee for the cooperation to show new highlights. China-ASEAN maritime economic development stresses on the cooperation between China and ASEAN, which includes building the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road with an open vision and innovative thinking and promoting international cooperation by making good use of the existing bilateral and multi-lateral cooperative mechanisms as well as cooperative platforms. In 2011, China’s Gunagxi Zhuang Autonomous Region signed the framework agreement on oyster cultivation with Brunei, which is now under the implementation stage. In 2013, it signed with Vietnam the cooperative MOU on fishing. Currently, the two countries are promoting cooperative projects concerning aquatic products processing and trade. Brunei’s marine products are also

China’s maritime economy had developed by leaps and bounds in the past decades. In 2013, the gross production of ocean nationwide reached 5.4313 trillion yuan, an increase of 7.6% compared to last year, accounting for 9.5% of the GDP. In the first half year of 2014, the number amounted to 2.5796 trillion yuan, an increase of 8.6% year on year. How could the “blue dream” of China and ASEAN come true? And what shall we do to better reach the goal of building the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road?

“Efforts must be made to focus on building the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, expanding cooperation in maritime economy, directing the opening-up towards optimizing structures, deepening development and improving efficiency, encouraging marine industries to invest abroad, increasing the internationalized operation and cooperation of marine enterprises, and improving the comprehensive advantage of maritime economy in utilizing foreign capital as well as raising its overall benefit.” According to Han Xingyong from the Ocean Culture Research Center of Shanghai Ocean University, to build the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, priority should be given to sea traders, especially those folk traders who are doing various trade. Tangible reciprocity will certainly reinforce the construction of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

God-given maritime resources facilitate the development of maritime economy. The coastal provinces and cities of China and ASEAN abound in fishery resources, oil and gas, wind energy, tourism resources and maritime transportation resources etc. With these advantages, China and ASEAN could carry out cooperation in fishery, maritime transportation, maritime tourism, maritime ecology, maritime biomedicine, and maritime renewable energy. At the same time, acts of destroying maritime resources such as marine littering must be avoided while making use of the opportunities provided by oceans.

Also, close attention must be paid to intensify the notification and guidance on maritime transportation safety and avoid maritime transportation accidents to the largest extent. All countries involved should negotiate a zoning law for marine accident relief and rescue and deal with accidents happened in the area they are responsible for.

The longest journey starts with a single step. As long as we seek development through cooperation and gain win-win results by sharing, the “blue dream” of China and ASEAN is bound to enjoy a promising future.