On July 23 local time, the China Ocean Mineral Resources Research and Development Association (COMRA) held a side event on the theme “Cooperation, Contribution and a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind” during the Assembly of the 25th session of the International Seabed Authority, convened in Kingston, Jamaica, presenting the contributions and efforts Chinese contractors have made to international seabed affairs in the 25 years since the ISA’s founding.
The side event was chaired by COMRA Secretary-General Liu Feng. Tian Qi, China’s Ambassador to Jamaica and Permanent Representative to the International Seabed Authority, and ISA Secretary-General Michael Lodge attended and delivered remarks. Kamina Johnson Smith, President of the Assembly and Jamaica’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, attended at invitation, and more than 160 delegates attending the ISA’s 25th session took part in the side event.
In his remarks, Tian Qi affirmed the ISA’s work over the past 25 years and said China would continue to participate deeply in international seabed affairs and contribute Chinese strength and wisdom. Guided by the goal of building a maritime community with a shared future and the principle of the common heritage of mankind, China would actively support other developing countries’ participation in international seabed affairs and make greater contributions to the common interests and well-being of all humanity. In his remarks, Lodge spoke highly of the Chinese government’s long-standing adherence to the principle of the common heritage of mankind and its positive contributions to the ISA’s institution building and capacity building. He noted that COMRA, as one of the first group of pioneer investors and a contractor holding exploration areas for three types of resources, had contributed reserved areas to the ISA and set an example for the parallel development of deep-sea resources. Lodge also thanked COMRA for its donations of models of deep-sea vessels and equipment and of deep-sea samples to mark the ISA’s 25th anniversary.
Zhang Dan, associate research fellow at the China Institute for Marine Affairs of the Ministry of Natural Resources, gave a presentation at the side event titled “The Common Heritage of Mankind: Benefit Sharing, Cooperation and Contribution”, setting out the guiding principles that should be followed in establishing a benefit-sharing mechanism under the principle of the common heritage of mankind, the forms benefit sharing can take, the practice of China and its contractors in implementing the principle, and the achievements made in training personnel for developing countries, international cooperation and other areas.
The meeting also invited research fellow Chan-Min Yoo of the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology to describe the cooperation China and South Korea have carried out over many years, under the international cooperation principles of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, in deep-sea resource surveys, deep-sea technology development, deep-sea environmental research and international seabed affairs.
The side event conveyed to the international community the willingness and confidence of Chinese contractors to actively fulfill their contractor obligations and to contribute to the common interests of all humanity and the development of international seabed affairs.
