On November 5, the opening ceremony of the 2024 Maritime Silk Road International Conference on the Cooperation and Integration of Industry, Education, Research and Application was held at Xiamen Hotel. The conference was supported by the Ministry of Education and the Education Departments of Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Yunnan and Shenzhen. It was hosted by the Education Department of Fujian Province and organized by Xiamen University.

The conference focuses on international cooperation and exchange of industry university research of the Maritime Silk Road. More than 130 experts and scholars from more than 20 research institutes, government departments and enterprises from countries including New Zealand, South Africa, Maldives, India, Malaysia, Indonesia and China attended the opening ceremony.

The opening ceremony was hosted by Prof. Li Xiaolin, Vice Dean of College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University. Huang Jianshun, Deputy Chief Inspector of the Department of Education of Fujian Province, Lv Bin, Chairman of China Ocean Development Foundation, Shi Guohe, Inspector of Fujian Provincial Bureau of Ocean and Fisheries, and Prof. Dai Minhan, Academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences and Deputy Chairman of Xiamen University Council, delivered opening speeches. The conference also showcased the fruitful results of the conference since 2021. At the opening ceremony, the unveiling ceremony of the Engineering Research Center of Marine Remote Sensing Big Data was also held.

The Keynote Speech session was hosted by Prof. Su Jilan, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Honorary Director of the Second Institute of Oceanography of the Ministry of Natural Resources. Professor Peter Britz, President of the South African Aquaculture Association, and Professor Luki Adrianto, President of the International Institute of Maritime, Ocean and Fisheries, Bogor University of Agriculture in Indonesia, shared respectively on the Alliance of African Centers of Excellence in Fisheries and Aquaculture to contribute to the economic development goals of the African continent and the development of monitoring data tools for blue economy development. And Zhou Hongchun, former Deputy Inspector of the Development Research Center of the State Council, analyzed the important role of new quality productivity in promoting the sustainable development of the blue economy from a macro perspective.

Over the past four years, the conference has gathered talents, innovated cooperation models and effectively transformed achievements, making important contributions to high-quality international cooperation among countries along the Maritime Silk Road.