Key points
- The sixth steering committee meeting was held on December 8, 2025, in hybrid format with ISA and Chinese officials taking part.
- Li Xiangyang, Deputy Administrator of the China Ocean Affairs Administration, took over as the new committee chair.
- The 2026 plan sets a fourth training class in Qingdao in May-June 2026 on cumulative impacts; the centre, established in 2019, has trained more than 100 people from over 40 developing countries.
On December 8, 2025, the sixth meeting of the steering committee of the China-ISA Joint Training and Research Centre (JTRC) was held in a hybrid online and in-person format. Officials and experts from the International Seabed Authority, the Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Natural Resources, the China Ocean Affairs Administration, the China Oceanic Development Foundation and the National Deep Sea Center took part.
The meeting completed the replacement and additional election of steering committee members and the rotation of the chair, with Li Xiangyang, Deputy Administrator of the China Ocean Affairs Administration, taking over as the new chair. The meeting reviewed and adopted the joint centre’s 2025 work report, giving full recognition to the year’s training results and to the progress of the centre’s first research project. It reviewed and adopted the centre’s 2026 work plan, deciding to hold the fourth training class in Qingdao between May and June 2026 on the theme of cumulative impacts, and to continue advancing the international joint research projects already approved and those under solicitation. The meeting also reviewed and adopted a proposal on strengthening cooperation between the China-ISA joint centre and the Egypt-ISA joint centre and a proposal for the two joint centres to hold a joint side event, deciding that the two centres will co-host a promotional side event during the 31st session of the ISA in 2026.
The joint centre was established in 2019 to promote deep-sea capacity building in developing countries through international training, cooperative research, conferences and exchanges, and has become a highlight of the ISA’s work to strengthen developing countries’ ability to participate in international seabed affairs. As its host institution, the National Deep Sea Center has successfully held three China-ISA joint centre training classes, training more than 100 trainees from over 40 developing countries. It also actively assists international seabed exploration contract contractors in fulfilling their international training obligations, and continues to deepen deep-sea exchanges and cooperation with developing countries including Egypt, the Cook Islands, Indonesia, South Africa, Kenya and Papua New Guinea. The centre continues to expand its international partnerships and raise its international profile.
