2026 World Maritime Equipment Conference opens in Fuzhou, focusing on global sustainable maritime innovation

China News Service, Fuzhou, October 16 (Ye Qiuyun, Zheng Jiangluo) The 2026 World Navigation Equipment Conference hosted by the Fujian Provincial People's Government opened in Fuzhou, Fujian on the 16th.

On the 16th, the 2026 World Marine Equipment Conference opened in Fuzhou, Fujian, and the 2026 Fourth Fujian International Marine Equipment Expo opened at the same time. Photo by Ye Qiuyun

This conference invites Guangdong Province as the guest province, Taizhou City in Jiangsu Province and Perpignan in France as the guest cities, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Harbin Engineering University as the guest universities, and deeply links with international organizations such as the International Maritime Organization and the International Federation of Navigation Societies.

In his speech, Louis Ariot, Chairman of the Mediterranean Metropolitan Area of ​​Perpignan in France and Mayor of Perpignan, shared the story of exchanges between Perpignan and Fuzhou’s sister cities. He expressed the hope to further strengthen docking cooperation and learn from each other in aspects such as marine industry development, technological innovation, and cultural exchanges.

During the conference, the Maritime Safety Administration of the Ministry of Transport of China and the China International Sustainable Transportation Innovation and Knowledge Center released the "2026 Global Sustainable Maritime Innovation Outstanding Practice Cases" and "2026 Global Sustainable Maritime Innovation Outlook".

According to data released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China, from January to June this year, China's shipbuilding completion volume was 36.5 million deadweight tons, a year-on-year increase of 51.2%; the number of orders on hand reached 363.25 million deadweight tons, a year-on-year increase of 54.9%; the number of new orders reached 121.06 million deadweight tons, a year-on-year increase of 173.1%, exceeding the historical peak of annual orders. Among them, among the three mainstream ship types of bulk carriers, container ships and oil tankers, China continues to rank first in the world in terms of new orders.

Huang Wenbin, a buyer from Singapore, made a special trip to look for cooperation opportunities. He said that China's shipbuilding industry leads the world. Participants at this conference paid great attention to the latest achievements of China's shipbuilding industry in technological innovation, green transformation, intelligent manufacturing, etc., and hoped to connect with Chinese and foreign shipbuilding companies to purchase high-precision products.

It is understood that this conference will continue to deepen the "internationalization, specialization, marketization, and branding" conference ideas. In accordance with the "1+4+N" overall framework, it will set up an opening ceremony and a navigation equipment conference forum (main forum), the Fujian Province Marine Economic Industry Cooperation Innovation Development Conference, and the 2026 IMO-China Four main events including the Sustainable Maritime Innovation Seminar, Fujian Shipbuilding and Modern Shipbuilding Industry Development Review, and a series of sub-forums, the 2nd Marine Science and Technology "Five Chain Integration" Promotion Activities Innovation Achievements Matchmaking Conference, the 2026 4th Fujian International Marine Equipment Expo and other supporting and concurrent activities will be held simultaneously.

On the same day, the 2026 Fourth Fujian International Marine Equipment Expo with the theme of "Green Smart Navigation, Leading the Deep Blue" opened at the same time. The total exhibition area of ​​this expo reaches 100,000 square meters, attracting more than 800 companies from more than 20 countries and regions including China, Indonesia, Norway, the United States, and Russia. The exhibition focuses on the upstream and downstream of the marine equipment industry chain, with 11 professional exhibition areas covering the entire industry chain from basic materials, core supporting equipment, power systems to shipbuilding, intelligent equipment, marine engineering, operation and maintenance services and other fields.

The organizing committee of the 2026 World Maritime Equipment Conference revealed that the World Maritime Equipment Conference has been successfully held in Fuzhou three times before. The first three conferences attracted nearly 3,000 guests from home and abroad, from more than 80 countries and regions, including more than 70 executives from Fortune 500 companies and representatives from more than 40 international organizations. The Marine Equipment Expo held at the same time as the conference displayed more than 20,000 marine technology products and achieved nearly 150 billion yuan in transactions. (over)