Managing Director of China Merchants Energy Shipping Co Ltd Wang Yongxin speaks druing a Press conference at the China Merchants Tower in Central on July 3, 2023. (ANDY CHONG / CHINA DAILY)

With its excellent international port facilities and the unique advantages under the “one country, two systems” principle, Hong Kong has always been recognized as an international maritime center.

Wang Yongxin, president of China Merchants Energy Shipping Co — a subsidiary of China Merchants Group — made the remarks at a media conference on Monday.

China Merchants Group, which has been operating in Hong Kong since 1873, has formulated a four-pronged strategy of development, projects, innovation, and platforms to drive its business in Hong Kong

Wang said China Merchants Group has been regarding Hong Kong as an important base to support the development of the high-end shipping service industry and will make sustained efforts to help enhance the city’s soft power in the international shipping industry.

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China Merchants Group, which has been operating in Hong Kong since 1873, has formulated a four-pronged strategy of development, projects, innovation, and platforms to drive its business in Hong Kong.

To foster the shipping industry, Hong Kong should leverage its synergies with the counterparts in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and tap into the advantages of the two markets and two systems to stimulate the internal vitality of industry growth, Wang said.

The company has partnered with the under-construction Shenzhen Ocean University to establish an international shipping business academy with the aim of providing talent support for the shipping industry in the Greater Bay Area.

To further promote Hong Kong’s role in the global shipping industry, SMES Shipping in 2021 inaugurated the World Maritime Merchants Forum in Hong Kong. A team of more than 100 engineers based in Shenzhen provided acceleration services to connect over 70 global network nodes, “reflecting a favorable exchange of dual-city resources between Hong Kong and Shenzhen,” Wang said.

This year, the third World Maritime Merchants Forum is tentatively scheduled to be held in the city on Nov 20. It is expected to reach a larger scale compared to the previous ones, inviting industry experts and enterprises from around the world unable to attend the previous two forums in person because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The theme of the forum focuses on gathering consensus amid global uncertainty, and building the industry’s resilience.

READ MORE: HK shipping accorded due attention in logistics mix

Enjoying the distinctive advantages of the strong support of the Chinese mainland while being well connected globally and boasting well-established rule of law, Hong Kong should adapt to the changes in the era and the sector to promote the reconstruction and innovation of industry rules, the executive said.

Wang said on Monday that during the forum, an international green energy alliance will be formed to jointly advance the industry’s green transformation. Additionally, the forum will release a carbon monitoring platform for the shipping industry in a bid to augment global exploration of carbon rules and make Hong Kong’s voices heard as an international shipping center.

Also, by capitalizing on Hong Kong’s distinctive feature of covering a large maritime area, the World Maritime Merchants Forum this year will include an international sailing competition to enhance the forum’s impact and bring more industry elites to Hong Kong, the president added.