The Symposium on the US Strategic Adjustment Towards China and Countermeasures for China's Maritime Shipbuilding Industry was Held in Beijing

On 17 April 2025, a symposium on "the US Strategic Adjustment towards China and Countermeasures for China's Maritime Shipbuilding Industry" was held in Beijing, hosted by the Institute of Peaceful and Development of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) and the International Cooperation Center (ICC); co-hosted by the China Association of Port-of-Entry. The symposium was presided over by Zhang Yu, convener of the Joint Meeting and director of the Steering Committee of the ICC. Liao Zhengrong, director of the Institute of Peaceful and Development of CASS, and Zhang Tianyu, executive deputy director of the Institute of Peaceful and Development of CASS, attended the meeting.

The meeting focused on discussions about "Strategic Goals and Considerations of the US Maritime Policy towards China", "Impact of the US Strategic Adjustment towards China on China's Shipping Supply Chain", "Analysis and Countermeasures of the US Rebuilding of the International Shipping Supply Chain", and "Policy Suggestions from China's Maritime, Logistics and Shipbuilding Industry and Social Organizations". Experts and scholars such as Hu Jianhua, the chief expert in the shipping field of the China Association of Port-of-Entry and former general manager of China Merchants Group, Shen Wei, vice president and secretary-general of the China Association of Port-of-Entry, Wang Wei, vice president of the China Association of Port-of-Entry and former director of the Tariff Department of the Ministry of Finance, Cui Fan, professor at the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) and the chief expert of the Hainan Research Institute at UIBE, and Cheng Yu, executive secretary-general of the ICC, as well as enterprise representatives such as Xu Hui, deputy general manager of China Merchants Energy Shipping Co., Ltd., Chen Wei, deputy general manager of the Operation Management Department at China COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited, Wang Chunli, chairman of Beijing Grain Holdings Co., Ltd., and Li Jun, deputy general manager of the Operation Management Department at COSCO Shipping Logistics Supply Chain Co., Ltd., attended the meeting for discussion.

Background：

On 9 April 2025, US President Trump signed Executive Order 14269, "Restoring American Maritime Advantage", instructing the Office of the US Trade Representative to consider measures such as imposing tariffs on Chinese ship-to-shore cranes and certain cargo handling equipment. On 17 April local time, the Office of the US Trade Representative disclosed the results of the Section 301 investigation based on China's so-called "unreasonable practices" in the maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors, and planned to take restrictive measures against China's maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors. The Office of the US Trade Representative determined that China's actions were unreasonable and restricted US business, and decided to take a series of major actions, including imposing service fees on Chinese ship operators and services and restricting certain maritime transportation services.