WOW sheds light on maritime governance

Humanoid robots perform a dance after the opening ceremony of the 2025 World Ocean Week in Xiamen on Nov 6. CHINA DAILY

The role of technological innovation in driving marine ecology protection and boosting marine economy is emphasized at the 2025 World Ocean Week in Xiamen, an annual global event addressing ocean governance, international cooperation, cultivation of the marine economy, and marine cultural exchanges.

According to experts at the event, in recent years, scientific and technological innovation has made a crucial contribution to global marine governance. Currently, breakthroughs can be seen in various fields such as marine observation and detection, communications, and artificial intelligence.

The 2025 World Ocean Week in Xiamen has been cultivating new quality productive forces and building up a modern marine industrial system. In recent years, it has introduced a number of projects with cutting-edge innovation and industry-driven effects. These achievements were also showcased during the WOW.

At the WOW opening ceremony on Thursday, a total of 19 projects of such kind were signed, with a contract value of about 13.9 billion yuan ($1.95 billion).

Technological achievements

At the opening ceremony, government officials, enterprise representatives, and experts from research institutions announced key achievements made in marine science from multiple perspectives.

Dai Minhan, director of Fujian Ocean Innovation Center and chair professor at Xiamen University, introduced the layout and innovative working mechanism of the Fujian Ocean Innovation Center, a research institution that focuses on the forefront studies in the field of marine science.

Dai presented the achievements in technological innovation, industrial collaboration, and international cooperation and exchanges since its establishment in 2025.

Dai also introduced the China-EU Blue Forward Fund, which has been founded to accelerate the commercialization of marine scientific and technological results, promote the technology transformation and cooperation between China and European countries, and build up a sustainable cooperation network.

Initiated by the Fujian Ocean Innovation Center, French venture capital company Seventure Partners, and some other domestic and foreign capital institutions and listed enterprises, the China-EU Blue Forward Fund has an initial fundraising scale of 2 billion euros ($2.3 billion).

The fund is oriented toward supporting sustainable marine economy and innovation in industrial fields, including information and digital tools, blue carbon economy, and decarbonization of traditional marine industries. Research in niche fields such as deep-sea equipment, marine robots, biological products, high-value development of marine resources, deep-sea biological manufacturing, comprehensive utilization of seawater, new marine materials, marine pollution prevention and control, and ecological restoration will also be the fund's major investment focus.

The APEC Marine Sustainable Development Report III, completed by the APEC Marine Sustainable Development Center in collaboration with the Third Institute of Oceanography of the Ministry of Natural Resources, and the China Institute for Marine Affairs of the Ministry of Natural Resources, was also released at the opening ceremony.

As an official publication initiated by Chinese institutions under the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation framework, the report provides a conceptual analytical framework that can help evaluate and demonstrate the progress of the United Nations' 2030 Sustainable Development Goals in the Asia-Pacific economies and their contributions.

The report formulates a conceptual framework on "five pillar areas" for APEC marine sustainable development, outlines a blueprint for future cooperation, and provides scientific research support for building a more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable Asia-Pacific marine community.

The Digital DeeP-sea Typical Habitats GPT, a multimodal large model for intelligent cognition and exploration of deep-sea habitats, was another highlight at the opening ceremony.

The public product is a major UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) endorsed program in the deep-sea habitats research field. Addressing the shortage in deep-sea data through digital and AI tools, the model enables intelligent simulation and prediction of typical deep-sea habitats.

As a language model, it can answer questions about the deep sea, provide solutions, and conduct intelligent reasoning with limited data. The release of DePTH-GPT indicates that deep-sea exploration has entered a new stage driven by data and intelligence, according to Tang Dongmei, deputy director-general of the China Deep Ocean Affairs Administration.

The model not only creates a powerful cognitive tool for global deep-sea researchers and managers but also greatly improves the efficiency of deep-sea detection and governance capabilities, Tang said.

The opening ceremony also spotlighted the release of another AI-driven large model SkyOcean. Developed by the team of academician Jiang Xingwei from the National Satellite Ocean Application Service, it is China's first full-link marine AI large model integrating remote sensing, reconstruction and prediction functions.

Ma Chaofei, deputy director of the National Satellite Ocean Application Service, said the model can connect the sea surface with underwater space and build up bridges between the present and the future. It is realizing in-depth forward-looking prediction of the marine environment, which is a landmark breakthrough.

The opening ceremony also showcased Xiamen's exploration and practices in developing a National Demonstration Zone for Marine Economic Development, as well as its role in driving China's marine science and technology industry innovation.

Through case studies and keynote speeches, the WOW also highlighted China's responsibility in global marine governance and the replicable experience drawn from "Xiamen Practice" over the years.

Ecological efforts

At the opening ceremony, a video showing the scenery of Xiamen Xiatanwei Mangrove Park drew the attention of guests from home and abroad. This video demonstrated the ecological value of Xiatanwei mangroves in protecting coastal ecology and marine biodiversity, and also spotlighted Xiamen's achievements in marine ecological restoration.

In 2022, the SEE Foundation, a public fundraising foundation, attended the WOW under the framework of the Blue Partnership Principles announced by the Chinese delegation at 2022 UN Ocean Conference.

This year, focusing on the fate of global coastal wetlands and the future development of Xiamen Xiatanwei Mangrove Park, the SEE Foundation once again participated in the WOW activities.

In order to promote Blue Partnership Principles, SEE Foundation, together with Ant Foundation and other social welfare forces, launched the "Blue Partnership Action Fund" Phase III.

The fund aims to promote innovation in marine protection methods, support exchanges and cooperation among stakeholders, and set examples and promote policies by supporting "small yet smart "marine protection projects.

At the opening ceremony, the achievements driven by the Blue Partnership Action Fund over the past three years were displayed. Currently, it has built up links with eight countries of China, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore. The fund has collaborated with experts from various fields to compile a mangrove assessment report for China and Southeast Asian countries.

In 2023, the Blue Citizen Initiative was launched at the opening ceremony of 2023 World Ocean Week in Xiamen, in a bid to further promote marine cooperation and address the challenges faced by the global ocean. This year, based on practices in China, Thailand, Indonesia and Cambodia, the pilot Blue Citizen communities have been established in various countries, contributing to the building of the Blue Citizen Community Network.

In the future, the Blue Citizen Community Network will continue to expand, taking communities as a link to improve the relationship between humans and the sea, promote marine governance, and contribute to a healthier ocean and a sustainable marine economy, as well as achieving the UN's 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, according to its representative.

From the display of Xiatanwei Mangrove ecological restoration achievements, the Blue Partnership Action Fund, and the establishment of the Blue Citizen Community Network, to the keynote speeches, the WOW platform has contributed Chinese wisdom and action to promoting marine ecological protection, sustainable use of resources, global marine governance cooperation, and cultural exchanges, according to the WOW organizers.

During the event, government officials, experts and scholars, as well as representatives of international organizations and enterprises were invited to various supplementary activities, such as the Ministerial Workshop on Marine Management and Blue Economic Development for BRI Countries, as well as the BRICS Marine Science Workshop and the third BRICS Marine Sustainable Development Symposium.

Carlos Aldeco, a representative of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in China, said: "As indicated in this year's World Ocean Week theme, the challenges facing oceans — climate change, biodiversity loss, marine pollution — are global in nature and require global solutions. In this spirit, the vital role played by World Ocean Week in Xiamen is highly recognized."

This platform brings together various stakeholders such as governments, scientists, civil society, and international organizations, who are working together to build consensus on actions, mobilize resources, and accelerate the implementation of solutions, Aldeco said.

Under the theme "New Engine of Blue Development for the Maritime Community with a Shared Future", the 2025 World Ocean Week is held from Thursday to Wednesday in Xiamen, Fujian province.

It is cohosted by the Xiamen Municipal People's Government, the Ministry of Natural Resources, Xiamen University, the United Nations Development Programme in China (UNDP China), and the Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA).