On May 25, the Eighth International Symposium on Scientific and Legal Aspects of the Regimes of the Continental Shelf and the Area was held in Xiamen. Sun Shuxian, Vice Minister of Natural Resources and Administrator of State Oceanic Administration; Hua Chunying, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs (video address); Estevão Tomás Rafael Pale, Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy of Mozambique; and Wu Bin, Mayor of the Xiamen Municipal People’s Government, delivered opening remarks.

Keynote speeches were delivered by Leticia Reis de Carvalho, Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority (ISA); Aldino de Campos, Chair of the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS); Tomas Heidar, President of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS); Vladimir Jares, Director of the United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea; and Chen Danhong, Director-General of the Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Natural Resources.

The two-day symposium was hosted by the State Key Laboratory of Submarine Geosciences, the Second Institute of Oceanography of the Ministry of Natural Resources, and the China Institute for Marine Affairs of the Ministry of Natural Resources. Representatives from the three institutions established under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, as well as from the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, together with more than 400 experts and scholars from various countries, attended the symposium.

During the symposium, the parallel session “Global Ocean Governance: Challenges and Prospects,” jointly organized by the Huayang Center for Maritime Cooperation and Ocean Governance (Huayang Center) and the Second Institute of Oceanography of the Ministry of Natural Resources, was held concurrently in Xiamen on May 26.

More than 100 experts, scholars, and professionals from CLCS, the UN Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, and countries including China, the United States, Sweden, the Philippines, Malaysia, Norway, and Madagascar attended the session. Participants held discussions on the transformations and challenges of ocean governance, as well as the current state and prospects of global and regional practices, contributing theoretical insights and cooperative proposals to deepening global ocean governance cooperation and addressing multiple challenges in the maritime domain.

In his opening remarks, Wu Shicun, Chairman of the Huayang Center and Chairman of the Academic Committee of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies (NISCSS), emphasized that the international maritime order is undergoing profound evolution and adjustment. Governance of the continental shelf and the international seabed Area, among other fields, is facing challenges such as deficits in the credibility of rules and institutions, inadequate coordination between science and law, an imbalance between resource development and environmental protection, insufficient equitable participation and capacity building, and the spillover effects of geopolitics. Wu Shicun noted that the truly sustainable path for international ocean governance lies in upholding dialogue and consultation based on international law, advancing practical cooperation, building political mutual trust, and maintaining a shared order.

In his keynote speech, Vladimir Jares introduced the functions of the Division and its relationship with the CLCS, the ISA, and the ITLOS.

Jares noted that the Agreement on Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction, or the BBNJ Agreement, paves the way for a higher level of intergovernmental cooperation. He described it as an important measure for protecting the Earth’s ecological environment, a significant development in ocean affairs and the law of the sea, and an important guarantee for achieving relevant global goals.

From the perspective of continental shelf governance, Aldino de Campos addressed the practical concerns underlying international ocean governance by examining the concept and interpretation of international ocean governance, current progress in ocean governance, and the practical challenges it faces.

Le Yucheng, former Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and former Deputy Director of the National Radio and Television Administration, provided a comprehensive overview of the practical challenges facing global ocean governance and discussed the impact of artificial intelligence on global ocean governance.

Chi Fulin, President of the China Institute for Reform and Development (CIRD) and President of the Hainan Institute for Free Trade Port Studies, and Pan Xinchun, Vice Chairman and Secretary General of the China Oceanic Development Foundation, respectively moderated the panel discussions on “Regional Practices and Practical Challenges in Global Ocean Governance” and “Prospects and Advancing Pathways for Global Ocean Governance.”

Yi Xianliang, former Director-General of the Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and former Chinese Ambassador to Norway; Zhou Yong, Vice President of NISCSS; Niklas Swanström, Director of the Institute for Security and Development Policy (ISDP); Ip Kuai Peng, Vice Rector of City University of Macau; and Bao Yinan, Associate Research Fellow of the Huayang Center, among others, offered in-depth analyses of the practice and limitations of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the impact of climate change on ocean governance, and the interaction between the BBNJ Agreement and this field. Xu Xiaodong, Executive Vice Chairman of the Huayang Center, delivered the closing remarks.

During the meeting, Wu Shicun gave interviews to media outlets including the Global Times on issues such as the current situation in the South China Sea and the prospects for consultations on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea.