On 24-25 May 2018, the 42nd Annual Conference of the Center for Oceans Law and Policy (COLP) of the University of Virginia School of Law was held in Beijing, co-organized by NISCSS, along with COLP, the Chinese Society of International Law and Korea Maritime Institute. Themed “Cooperation and Engagement in the Asia Pacific Region”, the conference focused on issues of regional concerns such as protection and preservation of marine environment, strait governance, shipping, search and rescue, freedom of navigation, sustainable fisheries, preservation of marine biodiversity beyond borders of national jurisdiction, and regional cooperation.
 

Wu Shicun, President of NISCSS, and Myron Nordquist, Deputy Director of COLP delivered their remarks at the opening of the conference. President Wu pointed out that pragmatic cooperation on ocean governance has great prospects and tremendous potential. He proposes that an economic cooperation framework for the greater South China Sea should be developed, which would be a plausible pathway to achieve common prosperity among littoral states of the South China Sea and beyond, and create a community of shared future. He pointed out that Hainan, as the sole province-scale Special Economic Zone in China, would have an important role to play in developing such an economic cooperation mechanism. Especially with the newly announced national policies of establishing Hainan as a free trade zone, Hainan will become a national pilot program for further integration into the global economy, and serve as an important contributor to regional economic cooperation.

Wang Hong, Administrator of State Oceanic Administration, delivered a keynote speech at the conference. He introduced China’s implementation of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in ocean-related fields and proposed four initiatives that aim to strengthen maritime cooperation among Asia-Pacific countries: to continue the build-up of partnership based on maritime cooperation, so as to enhance equality and mutual confidence among parties of global ocean governance; to continuously encourage the cooperation on blue economy, so as to promote the healthy growth of ocean-related industries; to step up the joint effort of environmental preservation and restoration, so as to share the responsibility of global ocean governance; and to further the cooperation on non-traditional maritime security issues, so as to create a harmonious regional security environment.

The conference brought together more than 180 participants from 17 countries and regions, as well as international organizations including the United Nations, International Seabed Authority (ISA), International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization. Miguel de Serpa Soares, UN Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs, addressed the opening by video message. Representatives of the Department of Treaty and Law and the Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs were also present at the conference.