BEIJING, Sept. 8, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Fifth "Silk Road Maritime" International Cooperation Forum kicked off on Thursday in Xiamen, East China's Fujian Province, drawing more than 1,000 representatives from domestic and international enterprises in the maritime transport sector and related industries, aiming to further upgrade the global transport network.

Chen Zhiping, chairman of Fujian Provincial Port Group Co, told the Global Times during a press conference that "Silk Road Maritime" has developed 116 sea lines to reach 131 ports in 43 countries.

The "Silk Road Maritime," an international shipping association, was founded in December 2018. The number of members has reached 317 from various fields such as ports, maritime transport, services, production, retail and wholesale along the industry chain.

"By the end of August, more than 12,096 freight vessels had operated along the sea routes under the 'Silk Road Maritime,' transporting more than 14 million standard containers worldwide," said Chen.

Malik Adams, a representative from the Ghana Ports and Harbour Authority, told the Global Times on Thursday that Ghana, the first member of the "Silk Road Maritime" in Africa, is a major player in ports and shipping in West Africa, and cooperation with the "Silk Road Maritime" had enhanced Ghana's connections with international organizations.

Malik stressed that cooperation with Chinese companies has huge potential. "We believe that the initiative 'Silk Road Maritime' will encourage other African countries to join and serve our people," he noted.

In terms of green development, Karim Fahssis, representative of international shipping company Maersk, said that China's abundant resources, technology and sophisticated industry chain will largely benefit Maersk's low-carbon development strategy as well as China's master plan of carbon reduction.

During the two-day forum, attendees will discuss topics in four keynote sub-sessions, exchanging points of view on how to boost the development of the global shipping industry as a whole.