Leveraging Port Vitality to Outline New Roadmaps for Coastal Cities
-- an interview with Xue Jian, Consul General of the People's Republic of China in Osaka, and Tanaka Toshimitsu, Director-General of Osaka Ports and Harbors Bureau
NINGBO, China, March 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A news reported from NBGD:
The Maritime Silk Road has been essential in promoting the economic and cultural development of Ningbo and Osaka, Japan, one of the 15 coastal cities selected for their profound ties with the ocean to be part of Ningbo, Setting Sail to Embrace the World, an extensive global cross-media reporting project. In Osaka, Ningbo's media outlets interviewed Xue Jian, Consul General of the People's Republic of China in Osaka, and Tanaka Toshimitsu, Director-General of Osaka Ports and Harbors Bureau.
In recent years, the Chinese Consulate General in Osaka has been actively helping Chinese-funded enterprises form new connections while communicating a compelling China story. Consul General Xue spoke highly of Ningbo's achievements as a hub city on the Belt and Road. In 2020, despite the challenges brought on by the global pandemic, Ningbo and Osaka successfully initiated the Ningbo-Osaka "Maritime Express Channel" as a new way to boost maritime relations during a time when many international flight services were suspended.
The 2025 World Expo will be held in Osaka. Tanaka Toshimitsu, Director-General of Osaka Ports and Harbors Bureau, told reporters that the main venue of the Expo will be built on Yumeshima, an artificial island reclaimed with construction waste soil. Policies on using waste soil for reclamation have transformed Osaka's coastlines and ports into "Harbors of the Future" with low-carbon lifestyles.
Tanaka said that in the new century, the booming world economy has created environmental problems and energy crises around the world, presenting new challenges to the development of ports in Ningbo and Osaka.
Compared with 20 years ago, Osaka Port's container shipping volume with China is approximately 20% higher, a number that gives Tanaka great confidence in China-Japan trade and Ningbo-Osaka trade.
According to Tanaka, about 130 Japanese companies (including multinationals headquartered in Osaka) have a presence in Ningbo, providing good opportunities for Ningbo Port and Osaka Port to strengthen their connection and expand cooperation in IT and smart technologies, while outlining a more ambitious long-term roadmap for coastal development.
