Xiamen International Ocean Week kicks off, focusing on marine ecological protection and technological innovation

Xinhua News Agency, Xiamen, November 5th (Reporters Fu Min and Liu Yang) On the 5th, the 2026 Xiamen International Ocean Week with the theme of "Working Together to Protect the Deep Blue and Harmony and Symbiosis of the Human Sea" kicked off.

Focusing on a number of marine ecological issues such as marine biodiversity protection, marine ecosystem restoration, sustainable development of coastal zones, and processing and utilization of marine biological resources, this year's Ocean Circle gathered Chinese and foreign experts, gathered scientific and technological forces from various countries, and conducted cross-domain dialogues. This Ocean Week will last until the 11th.

At the opening ceremony, guests attending the conference gave keynote speeches on topics such as deep sea governance and marine biodiversity protection. The special exhibition "The Tide Rises on Heron Island and Sail the Deep Blue" and the Xiamen "Travel Photography" Sister Cities Photography Exhibition were also set up to showcase the coastal style and cultural heritage of Xiamen and its international sister cities, as well as ecological protection actions and achievements.

A total of 33 activities were arranged for this Ocean Week, including 1 opening ceremony, 9 marine cultural exchange activities, 19 scientific and technological ecological exchange activities and 4 marine economic docking activities. It combined marine ecological protection, scientific and technological innovation, industrial development and cultural exchanges to build an ocean platform that is oriented to the world, serves development, and is close to the citizens.

Mud Munjulul Hasan, a senior researcher at the Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute, said that Bangladesh can apply the deep-sea research results and technologies that China has developed and implemented in its deep-sea protection work. "Bangladesh has large mangroves along the coast. China has shown us how to protect mangroves and improve their ability to cope with the impact of climate change. We can learn from China's protection experience and maintain coastal blue ecological communities."

Fernand Maxime Ayoyo, an official of Benin's National Maritime Operations Management Authority, said that Benin-China maritime security cooperation has a solid foundation, and future cooperation will be further expanded to the field of sustainable management of marine resources. "Benin is rich in marine resources. We hope to rely on the Ocean Week to deepen cooperation with China in fisheries and marine ecological governance, select students to study in China, and bring the experience learned back to the country for implementation."

Xiamen International Ocean Week is an annual international ocean affairs event co-sponsored by the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Xiamen Municipal People's Government, the United Nations Development Program in China, the East Asia Sea Environmental Management Partnership and Xiamen University, and hosted by the Xiamen International Ocean Week Secretariat. It was first held in 2005.