Port and shipping companies should undertake major industrial missions of driving development and promoting transformation, as well as support the construction of "silk road shipping", said Xu Lirong, chairman of China COSCO Shipping Corp Ltd, at the Silk Road Maritime International Cooperation Forum, which was held on Sept 7 in Xiamen, Fujian province.

"In December last year, COSCO Shipping, Xiamen Port Holding Group and Fujian Provincial Communication Transportation Group jointly launched the 'silk road shipping' alliance to accelerate the layout of Belt and Road market," said Xu.

Xu said that the shipping alliance has linked with the China-Europe freight trains, which has further stimulated port and shipping trade, promoting the rapid growth of relevant businesses.

From this perspective, cooperation between ports and shipping can improve the service capacity of logistics supply chains, generate new trade routes, as well as promote the growth of the global economy and trade, said Xu.

In addition, the cooperation between ports and shipping companies formed by the alliance has also greatly improved the operation efficiency of Xiamen Port.

Xu noted that in the first five months of this year, the average import clearance time at Xiamen Port was 45.4 hours, and the average export time was 4.6 hours, which were 35.5 and 57.7 percent lower than the same period from last year respectively.

Xu said that the cooperation between ports and shipping companies will also help drive the economy in the port hinterland, as well as attract visitors, logistics, and capital flows, thus driving regional economic development.

COSCO Shipping is a Chinese business conglomerate and state-owned enterprise headquartered in Shanghai. The group is engaged in a variety of business sectors, with a focus on integrated logistics, shipping, finance services, and equipment manufacturing.

The Silk Road Maritime International Cooperation Forum is held on Sept 7 in Xiamen, Fujian province. [Photo/Xinhua]