Xiamen: The shipping industry shows no sign of recovery whether in China or around the world, delegates attending the Cosco-organised World Shipping (China) Summit were told yesterday.
“The international shipping industry is in a very difficult position at at present, just like a tunnel without lights inside,” said Xu Zuyuan, deputy director of the Ministry of Transport. “The driving force from the new emerging economies will be the important factor for global economy’s recovery.”
Xu gave three pieces of advice for the industry. “The first one,” he said, “is to boost the confidence of the industry, the crisis that the industry is currently facing is a ‘confidence crisis’ and ‘trust crisis’. Secondly, the whole industry needs an order to develop healthily and strengthen the management and supervision of the industry. We encourage the cooperation between ship owners and yards, ship owners and financial organizations, ship owners and cargo owners, carriers and shippers. Finally, the industry should insist on an open attitude. The global shipping market is a completely open market, and the Chinese government will also keep to be open and against any types of unilateralism,” Xu stressed. [21/09/12]
