On the afternoon of September 5th, 2019, 21st-Century Maritime Cooperation Committee held the second Committee meeting in 2019 (the fifth committee meeting in total since the founding) in Makati City, the Philippines. The meeting was hosted by Mr. Du Weiguang, Deputy Director of the Foreign Affairs Office of Fuzhou Municipal People's Government. Ms. Tri Rismaharini, President of UCLG ASPAC and Mayor of Surabaya, Indonesia, Mr. Song Jingwu, Co-President of UCLG ASPAC, Vice President of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and President of 21st-Century Maritime Cooperation Committee, Dr. Bernadia Irawati Tjandradewi, Secretary General of UCLG ASPAC and Mr. Octavi de la Varga, Secretary General of Metropolis, attended the meeting and delivered speeches. Nearly 100 delegates attended the meeting, including members of UCLG ASPAC, UCLG Africa, 21st-Century Maritime Cooperation Committee and the Metropolis. The delegates were representatives of foreign cities from Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea and Nepal as well as domestic cities such as Beijing, Chongqing, Xi'an, Haikou, Changsha, Chengdu, Zhengzhou, Jinan, Changchun, Yiwu, etc.

Ms. Tri Rismaharini said that as the theme of the Committee meeting, marine plastics and micro-plastics pollution is currently a common concern worldwide. UCLG ASPAC really appreciates the contribution of the Committee. She hoped to see all the members of the Committee working together to make a greater impact on our cities and society.

Mr. Song Jingwu said that since its establishment, 21st-Century Maritime Cooperation Committee has been closely connected with the Belt and Road Initiative and committed to building an inclusive, shared and sustainable platform for maritime cooperation in the Asia Pacific region with the targets of developing marine economy, promoting maritime cooperation, protecting marine environment and advancing sustainable development. He also hoped that delegates could learn from each other about the management experience of marine ecological protection and marine disasters reduction, and jointly take action in the two fields, so as to realize high-quality development of cities along the Maritime Silk Road, and to promote the construction of community with shared future for ocean.

Mr. Octavi de la Varga said that ocean is the cradle of life providing resources that human relies on to survive, and it is essential for ensuring the ecological balance of biodiversity on the earth. Meanwhile, we have also witnessed the fragility of marine resources, which makes it necessary to continuously explore how to ensure the sustainability of marine resources in the process of social and economic development. Metropolitan cities have responsibilities to take the lead in more areas, not only to develop strategies to promote economic development, attract investment, and introduce talent, but also to find solutions to reduce or even eliminate negative impacts during the developing process. 21st-Century Maritime Cooperation Committee has been striving for this goal. The topics discussed at the Committee meeting are about the control of flood and typhoon and the management of marine plastic pollution, which are the fields where cities need to work together and learn from each other.

Mr. Du Weiguang, Deputy Director of Foreign Affairs Office of the Fuzhou Municipal People’s Government, made a report on activities and work plan of the Committee. Mr. Lin Zhiqiang, Associate Consultant of Fuzhou Municipal Water Resources Administration, and Mr. Mu Jingli, Professor of Institute of Oceanography in Minjiang University, respectively introduced experience and approaches for the control of flood and typhoon in Fuzhouas well as practices on marine plastic pollution prevention and management in Fuzhou. The presentations received good responses from the delegates, and they had heated discussions with the speakers during the Q&A session. Moreover, a representative from Jayapura, Indonesia, submitted a membership application to show the intention to join the Committee.

Dr. Bernadia Irawati Tjandradewi gave a summary speech at the end of the meeting. She hoped that the Committee could actively organize more activities to motivate coastal cities in the Asia-Pacific region to pay attention to issues on marine environmental pollution, marine plastic waste management and coastal economic development, and jointly make contributions on the building of a better marine environment.