On 11th Jan, IIGF and WWF-China held an online expert seminar, serving as a kick-off meeting of the new Project launched in partnership with WWF: “Development of the Sustainable Fisheries Finance in China. WANG Yao, Director General of IIGF and Patrick CHUNG-WING YEUNG Program Expert, Ocean, WWF started off with two brief speeches highlighting the significance of research and expressing the expectations for the project. Julia Mao, the Director of International Cooperation at IIGF, moderated the seminar.
Alice CHEN, the Assistant Research Fellow at IIGF, gave a brief introduction of the project and the current progress. Firstly, the project aims to conduct a baseline study of the landscape of the Chinese fishery industry finance (including capture fishery, aquaculture, and processing) and develop a roadmap to guide the financial flow toward a more sustainable future. The second aim is to identify and analyze the financial risks that may arise from unsustainable fishery production.
Various renowned experts participated in the event and shared their recommendation, including:
- HU Xuedong, Deputy Director of China Maritime Arbitration Commission, China Association of Marine Affairs, China Institute of Ocean Engineering;
- LI Xiaowen, Level II Bureau Rank Official of China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission;
- ZHANG Zhe, Agricultural Industrialization Finance Division of Agricultural Bank of China;
- LIU Xiaoshu, Chief Economist of Bank of Qingdao,
- ZHANG Zhenglin, Assistant to the Director of the Grain, Cotton, Oil, and Industrial Customer Division at the Agricultural Development Bank of China, Fujian Branch;
- YANG Bin, Vice Chairman and Secretary-General of China Fishery Mutual Insurance Association
- CUI He, President of China Aquatic Products Processing and Marketing Alliance
- GONG Qingli, Professor at the School of Fisheries of the Ocean University of China
- YANG Lidan, Secretary of the Board of Directors of CNFC Overseas Co., Ltd
- HOU Bin, Founder of Besling, CEO of the Lighthouse Jellyfish Technology Co., Ltd.
DU Hongxia, Senior Manager of Green Finance Program of WWF (Switzerland) Beijing Representative Office, concluded the meeting. The recommendations provided by the experts from financial institutions, academia, industry associations, and private companies were very valuable for the research team and will help to guide the future research direction.