Shanghai promotes itself as international shipping center

The ongoing 2021 North Bund Forum, co-hosted by the Shanghai municipal government and the Ministry of Transport, kicked off in East China's Shanghai city on Thursday and runs through until the close of proceedings on Friday. 

The event is themed on "Openness and inclusiveness, innovation and reform and win-win cooperation: embracing future development and restructuring of international shipping".

The North Bund Forum has one main forum and two parallel sub-forums. It features five themed sessions on decarbonization, security and cooperation, justice and arbitration, digitalization and intelligence, as well as on finance and insurance.

Since the 1990s, the forum's host city is understood to have made significant progress in its development as an international shipping center. Digital, intelligent technology and other means have been employed in the city's port construction, its loading and unloading facilities, as well as in its cargo transportation and airport self-service services.

Shanghai-based China COSCO Shipping Corp – the country's largest shipping company by market share – initiated a major project several years ago that added to the development momentum. 

It joined hands with other eight global shipping leaders – including Dubai Ports World, Hutchison Port Holdings and PSA International – to set up the Global Shipping Business Network (GSBN) in 2018, which is the world's first independent, non-profit shipping blockchain consortium. 

In addition, the shipping company built the world's first large intelligent container ship – the Lotus – in May 2019, which boasts intelligent engine rooms, energy efficiency and navigation. 

In July, Yangshan Port in Shanghai announced the quasi-commercial operation of a self-developed "5G plus L4" smart heavy truck in cooperation with Chinese automaker SAIC. This was in a bid to promote fully automated container loading and unloading, as well as transportation.